PAS wants MACC, IRB to probe M’sians in Panama paper

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) must probe Malaysians named in the Panama Papers to ensure the money they had saved in offshore companies was “clean”, a PAS leader said.

The Islamist party’s deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said that the anti-graft agency and the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia must ascertain the reasons why these individuals opened offshore companies.

“Is it merely to avoid paying taxes or were they involved in money laundering or was there no ill intent at all?” he asked in a statement.

Tuan Ibrahim said that having their names appear on the Panama list would affect Malaysia’s image in the Global Financial Integrity, a body overseeing the flow of illegal money.

“PAS urges that appropriate action be taken against those found to have breached the country’s laws especially if they were attempting to evade paying taxes.”

The Panama Papers are leaked documents detailing the offshore ventures and accounts of a number of individuals.

Among those named were the son of Prime Minister Najib Razak, Mohd Nazifuddin; Mirzan Mahathir (son of a former Malaysian primier Dr Mahathir Mohamad); former Federal Territories and Urban Well-Being Minister Raja Nong Chik Zainal Abidin; as well as timber tycoon Michael Chia.

Nazifuddin however last night explained that although he was once director of two British Virgin Islands-based companies, namely Jay Marriot International and PCJ International Venture Limited, he was no longer attached to either.

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