KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has confirmed summoning former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's eldest son to facilitate an ongoing investigation into his wealth.
The commission in a statement said it has served businessman Mirzan Mahathir a notice to declare his assets, all movable and immovable assets, whether inside or outside the country, within 30 days.
"The notice was served to him at the MACC headquarters yesterday at about 9.30am under Section 36(1)(b) of the MACC Act 2009, requiring him to declare all his possessions.
"He is required to make the declaration within 30 days from the date of the notice.
"This notice is part of MACC's ongoing investigation on him, based on the report and his business activities in connection with the sale and purchase of government-linked companies (GLC)."
MACC said it issued the notice in relation to the "revelations" obtained from the Panama Papers and the Pandora Papers.
The Panama Papers are an unprecedented leak of 11.5 million files from the database of the world's fourth biggest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca in 2016.
Meanwhile, the Pandora Papers are 12 million leaked documents that reveal the hidden and sometimes unethical or corrupt dealings of the global wealthy and elite, including prominent world leaders, politicians, corporate executives, celebrities, and billionaires.
Pandora is so far the largest database released to date, larger than the previous Panama Papers and Paradise Papers leaks in April 2016 and November 2017, respectively.
The papers reveal the offshore finance interests and activities of such individuals along with their tax sheltering schemes.
It was released in 2021 by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), a group in Washington, DC, that has been working with more than 140 media organisations on its biggest-ever global investigation.
This leak is important because, if wrongdoing is found and exposed, these high-profile people could be forced from office or stripped of their powers. Prominent politicians from more than 90 countries have been exposed via this papers.
"MACC has initiated investigations into all those associated and named in both (Panama and Pandora) papers since August 2022. To date, 10 witnesses have been summoned for their statements based on the details obtained from both papers," it said.
It also revealed that it was in the midst of examining financial documents and assets belonging to the entities listed in both reports.
"The investigation is an ongoing process" it said adding that investigations are under the MACC Act 2009 and the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLATFPUAA).
EDITORIAL NOTE: A line in this report earlier incorrectly stated that Datuk Seri Najib Razak was mentioned in the Pandora Papers when he was actually never at all. He had, in fact, said in the past that none of the leaked documents in the international investigative report stated his involvement. The NST, upon learning of the error, has removed the paragraph. We regret any misunderstanding caused by the error.