Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz questioned his critics’ rationale behind their calls for him to be investigated over his involvement in the Pandora Papers.
In a video uploaded to his social media pages, Zafrul asked if it was being suggested that all companies in Labuan were doing illegal activities.
"Do they want to request that all directors of financial companies in Labuan be investigated by MACC? Do they want to accuse the Malaysian government of encouraging illegal activities following the establishment of the Labuan International Business and Financial Centre (LIBFC)?
"For your information, there are over 940 companies registered with the Labuan Financial Services Authority (LFSA), including 70 banks and 237 insurance companies.
"To date, banks in Labuan have almost US$50 billion in assets and insurance companies there also have insurance premiums of up to US$1.7 billion. Are all these assets illegal?" he questioned.
Malaysiakini's exposé of the Pandora Papers in 2021 revealed that Zafrul was named as the director of Capital Investment Bank (Labuan) Limited, a boutique bank incorporated in the offshore jurisdiction of Labuan.
Zafrul later stated that he held the position of group director and member of the executive management committee of Kenanga Holdings Bhd from January 2009 to June 2010.
Capital Investment Bank (Labuan) Ltd was a subsidiary of Kenanga.
Zafrul relinquished all Kenanga-related posts when he assumed the role of Maybank’s chief executive officer in June 2010.
MACC has already begun investigations against former finance minister Daim Zainuddin, who was also named in the Pandora Papers leak.
On Jan 8, Gerakan Menuntut Malaysia Bersih (GMMB) called on MACC to also probe present and former lawmakers who were named in the leak, including Zafrul.
In his video last night, Zafrul questioned the need to investigate him, explaining that he was merely working for the Kenanga group and did not own the company.
He reminded his critics that Capital Investment Bank was incorporated in Labuan, which was made an international offshore financial hub by the Malaysian government in 1990 during Dr Mahathir Mohamad's tenure as prime minister.
"Until now, Labuan still acts as a LIBFC under the supervision of LFSA.
"So are those who want me to be investigated saying that all companies opened in Labuan are doing illegal business and breaking the law?" he asked.
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