He said he received an official clearance letter from the anti-graft agency on Dec 4 last year.
“This letter confirms that there was no evidence of any wrongdoing on my part in relation to the investigation,” he said in a statement.
He added however that he remained involved as a witness in MACC’s investigation.
“I remain committed to fully cooperating with the authorities as they continue their work,” he said.
Halim was responding to inquiries on the investigation initiated by MACC in May 2023 pertaining to political figures from the 1990s.
At the time of the probe, FMT reported Halim dismissing media claims that he had been questioned by MACC.
Media outlets had said that MACC was investigating a former senior minister and a businessman with a “Tan Sri” title with regard to the alleged embezzlement of state funds.
Halim, who is now involved in the oil and gas industry overseas, lambasted business weekly The Edge for linking him to the RM2.3 billion acquisition of shares.
The Edge claimed an MACC source had confirmed that the transaction involved the purchase of a 32.6% stake or 722.9 million shares in Renong Bhd by United Engineers (M) Bhd (UEM) for RM2.3 billion in November 1997, in the midst of the Asian financial crisis.
The Edge had also republished in full three of its articles on UEM’s Renong share acquisition from November 1997, to “refresh the memory of readers as well as enlighten those who were not aware of this transaction”.
Halim said the articles had fuelled unfounded speculation about him and cast aspersions on his role in UEM’s purchase of the Renong shares.
In March, Singapore news outlet CNA reported that MACC was probing property developer BRDB Developments Sdn Bhd’s main shareholder Akbar Khan in relation to allegations of money laundering and corruption, with the Singaporean businessman part of a growing list of those being probed in relation to the agency’s investigations of former finance minister Daim Zainuddin.
CNA reported that MACC had investigated former Malaysia Airlines chairman Tajudin Ramli, and that the agency’s investigations had led to “separate, but related, audits of the dealings” involving Halim and Tan Hua Choon, the chairman of Spanco Sdn Bhd.