KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 18 — The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has asked businessman Mirzan Mahathir to declare his assets.
In a statement today, the MACC said Mirzan was present at its headquarters in Putrajaya yesterday and a notice was issued to him under Section 36(1) (b) of the MACC Act 2009 which compels the businessman to declare all of his assets, whether or not they are in his possession in the 30 days from the date of the notice.
Mirzan is the son of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“This order is a further action from the MACC investigation on information contained in the Panama Papers and Mirzan’s businesses which involves the sale and purchase of government-linked companies,” the MACC said.
The MACC commenced investigations in August 2022 into all entities and related assets named in the Pandora Papers and Panama Papers leaks.
“Up to now, a total of 10 witnesses have been called to record their statements and the MACC is currently reviewing the financial documents and asset ownership of the entities listed in the reports.
“The investigation is ongoing,” MACC said.
Last Wednesday, the MACC quizzed former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin’s wife Toh Puan Naimah Khalid and their two sons on assets belonging to the family as part of its probe.
Daim and his family have filed an application in court for a judicial review to challenge the investigation which they have claimed as unconstitutional.
The Panama Papers are 11.5 million leaked documents that were published in 2016. They detailed financial and attorney-client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities.
The Pandora Papers, on the other hand, are a 2021 leak of nearly 12 million documents that incriminated hundreds of global elite for alleged tax avoidance and corruption.
