KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 15 — Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman today said that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is conducting an investigation on some individuals named in the Pandora Papers that are related to issues of corruption, abuse of power and embezzlement.

She said the investigation is still ongoing and requires information from outside of the country.

"Apart from the MACC, there are several other agencies involved in this investigation, namely Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), the Malaysian Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) and the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM),” Azalina said in a Parliamentary written reply.

She was replying to DAP’s Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun who asked the prime minister to state whether the government will reopen the 2021 Pandora Papers case that was rejected in the last Parliament session, to trace the loss of a lot of national funds that are abroad.

It was reported that an 84-year-old former minister reportedly gave a statement to the MACC on Monday, in relation to the two-year-old Pandora Papers scandal.

Utusan Malaysia had yesterday quoted an anonymous source saying that the former minister was called into the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya to explain the money flow of 12 offshore companies owned by the latter and his family.

The Pandora Papers — an investigation report involving some 600 journalists from media including The Washington Post, the BBC and The Guardian — was released in October 2021, and is based on document leaks from 14 financial services companies worldwide.

Two Malaysians were among the 336 global politicians alleged in the report to be using offshore companies to hide ill-gained wealth.

A Malaysian investigation was announced on October 25, 2021, by former de facto law minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, who said that the authorities would need time to investigate as the supposed criminal activities took place around 10 years ago.