Ex-prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's sons have claimed that their father is the real target of MACC's investigations into their finances.
In an interview with Bloomberg over the weekend, Mokhzani said the elder statesperson is the main suspect.
“My father is the primary suspect.
“We did ask, ‘What is the investigation on my father about?’ and they could not furnish us with that information.
“Can you imagine, you’re being asked to provide information to be used to prosecute your parent?” said Mokhzani.
In January, the MACC ordered both Mokhzani (above, left) and his older brother Mirzan to declare their assets dating back to 1981, the year Mahathir became prime minister.
Both were known to be active in the business world and are reputed to have immense wealth.
While it did not reveal the extent to which the 98-year-old former politician himself was being investigated, the MACC said the investigation was being carried out under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
The anti-graft agency said it had started an investigation in August 2022 against all related entities named in the Pandora Papers report, as well as the Panama Papers.
The orders are part of investigations into offshore business records revealed by a journalism consortium, the MACC said at the time, without mentioning that the main target was Mahathir.
Mirzan and Mokhzani said they have received two extensions of the original February deadlines for compliance but are finding it difficult to prepare financial records dating back to the pre-digital era.
‘Entitled to be rich’
Mahathir has long asserted that his children’s wealth was due to their own hard work and had nothing to do with him.
“If they are rich now, it is through their own efforts.
“They are entitled to be rich, that is if they can become rich. But some of my relatives are as poor as a church mouse,” he reportedly said in 2018.
He also accused the present government of using the MACC to make politically motivated investigations against him and his family.
Mahathir was discharged from the National Heart Institute last week after a 53-day stay in hospital. - Mkini
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