MACC has the son of a prominent politician in its crosshairs over his business activities, according to news reports.
The Star said the commission had questioned the man for several hours, whereas Utusan Malaysia reported that the son of a former prime minister was summoned to the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya at 10pm last night for questioning.
According to The Star, the man’s name was listed in the Panama Papers but it could not be ascertained if MACC is looking into the claims made in those documents.
The Panama Papers refers to a huge leak of 11.5 million documents in 2016 from a Panama-based law firm, which revealed how top politicians, sports stars, and criminals hide their wealth using offshore tax havens.
At the time, Malaysiakini had reported that jailed former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s son, Mohd Nazifuddin Mohd Najib, was among those named.
Also named were Fakhri, the eldest son of former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, as well as Mirzan, the eldest son of former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
A representative of Mirzan via one of his companies, Crescent Capital, had denied the latter’s involvement in Sergio International Ltd - the British Virgin Islands firm he was linked with.
Last week, Bernama reported that MACC is investigating a former senior minister and a prominent businessperson with a “Tan Sri” title for the alleged misappropriation of national funds worth more than RM2.3 billion.
The national news agency, which also quoted a source, said the investigation is a continuation and extension of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ (ICIJ) disclosure of confidential documents regarding suspected transactions in several offshore financial centres.
The source said the investigation focused on transactions from the sale of shares of the listed company, the ownership of valuable assets of the businessperson, the former senior minister, and their family members, estimated to be worth billions of ringgit, both in the country and abroad.
“MACC has also recorded statements of about 14 witnesses in the past few weeks in relation to this investigation, including from prominent businesspeople and a former senior minister about the confidential documents revealed by the Pandora Papers,” the source added.
The Pandora Papers leak occurred in 2021 when an anonymous source shared with ICIJ 2.94 terabytes of confidential financial files, amounting to more than 11.9 million documents and other records, from 14 offshore service providers that set up and manage shell companies and trusts in tax havens around the globe.
Following this leak, former finance minister Daim Zainuddin criticised Malaysiakini for what he claimed to be the news portal’s “unending obsession” with him. This was after Malaysiakini published a report on his offshore trusts. - Mkini
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