KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has confirmed summoning Mirzan Mahathir yesterday as part of investigations arising from leaked information in the Panama Papers.
The eldest son of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was present at the MACC headquarters at 9.30pm yesterday and was given a notice to declare all his assets both here and abroad within 30 days.
Besides information on Mirzan, 65, in the Panama Papers, the agency is also investigating his business activities that involve the sale and acquisition of government-linked companies, the MACC said in a statement.
The probe is being conducted under the MACC Act 2009 and the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
The MACC said since August 2022, it had been investigating all entities named in both the Pandora and Panama papers, which are leaked databases on the wealth of global elites, including politicians and their relatives, published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
“To date, 10 witnesses have been called in for their statements to be recorded, while the MACC is in the process of studying financial documents as well as the ownership of assets by the entities named in the documents,” the agency said.
The Pandora Papers were published in 2021, while the Panama Papers were released in 2016.
News of the MACC’s supposed investigations into Mirzan began appearing in blogs and a Hong Kong tabloid website late last month.
In the Panama Papers, Mirzan is mentioned as having registered a company, Sergio International Ltd, in the British Virgin Islands in 2002. The firm became inactive in November 2006 and was struck off.
The leaked documents also mention him as shareholder and director of Crescent Energy Ltd, a Labuan-registered offshore company incorporated in December 2003 with an authorised share capital of US$12,000 (RM37,000)
He is also named as sole shareholder and director of two other Labuan-registered firms, Utara Capital Ltd and Al Saad Investments Pte Ltd, incorporated in 1997 and 2009, respectively. – January 18, 2024