Renong tycoon 'not under inquiry'

Renong tycoon 'not under inquiry'

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Friday that Halim Saad, the besieged boss of troubled conglomerate Renong, is not under investigation and defended the government's rescues of faltering companies.

Halim was one of the Malay Muslim businessmen favored by Mahathir to give the country's predominant ethnic group more economic clout, but the government's recent efforts to take over his debt-ridden empire has cast his future in doubt.

"He is not under investigation. He's not in charge, that's all," Mahathir told reporters Friday. "No question of fall guy or anything like that."

Halim was a protege of Daim Zainuddin, who resigned as finance minister in June without explanation. Mahathir has taken up the finance portfolio.

Both Mahathir and Daim, partners since the 1980s in transforming Malaysia into a high-tech export center, have denied having a falling out, but the government's image has taken a beating this year over a series of bailouts perceived by critics as benefiting government cronies.