KUALA LUMPUR – Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is allegedly the target of a months-long probe by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), according to claims by his two sons, who are also implicated in ongoing investigations.
Tan Sri Mokhzani Mahathir said his father, a two-time former prime minister, is the anti-graft agency’s “primary suspect”, while he and his elder brother, Mirzan Mahathir, are “witnesses to whatever it is that they’re investigating”.
Mokhzani also said he and Mirzan had pressed the MACC for details on their investigations, which have seen the duo being ordered to declare their assets dating back to the 1980s, when Dr Mahathir first became prime minister.
“We did ask, ‘What is the investigation on my father about?’ and they (MACC) were not able to furnish us with that information,” he was quoted as saying by Bloomberg during a March 23 interview published today.
“Can you imagine you’re being asked to provide information to be used to prosecute your parent?”
Asserting that it is a “near impossible” task for him and Mirzan to declare their assets spanning decades ago, Mokhzani said that everything then was in the form of physical records with no digital advancements yet, saying: “We can’t remember exactly how things were back then.”
In January, the MACC issued a notice order to the brothers for them to declare their assets under Section 36(1)(b) of the MACC Act 2009.
In Mirzan’s case, the agency is said to be investigating his business activities linked to the sale and acquisition of government-linked companies while probing information in the Panama Papers documents published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
It is understood that both Mirzan and Mokhzani are being investigated under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing, and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
On March 16, MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki confirmed with Scoop that following requests for more time to declare their assets, Mirzan was given an extension until April 15, while Mokhzani was given until March 25.
In a press conference days after Mirzan was questioned by the MACC, Dr Mahathir claimed that the agency had “pressed” Mirzan for evidence, even though no offence had been established against the businessman, so they can prosecute the nonagenarian.
Last week, Dr Mahathir was discharged from the National Heart Institute, where he was previously hospitalised for 53 days due to an infection-related treatment.
Scoop previously took a look at Mirzan- and Mokhzani-owned vast business ventures, including the various corporations tied to the brothers’ names and their alleged involvement in previous business dealings during Dr Mahathir’s stints as prime minister. – March 26, 2024