Zahid denies trying to evade tax after name allegedly included in Pandora Papers expose

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi denies that he was trying to evade tax after his name was allegedly included in the Pandora Papers exposé, which linked several prominent Malaysians to offshore dealings.

The former deputy prime minister explained that at the time, he was still in the corporate sector and was the CEO of a publicly listed company.

"Please investigate what was mentioned by YB Jelutong (RSN Rayer)," said the Bagan Datuk MP while debating the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday (Oct 4).

Rayer (PH-Jelutong) had asked Ahmad Zahid to verify whether he had offshore accounts in the British Virgin Island and whether he had any intention to bring back the funds "to revive the national economy."

"At that time, the company that I led had some investments in a prominent country and received concessions from that country to carry out an IPP (project)," Ahmad Zahid said without specifically naming the country.

"The profits could not be brought out of the country but instead, we were asked to re-invest in the country.

"Surely, as a listed company, it would've wanted to give back the dividends to its shareholders but now the company no longer exists.

"So, please do not assume that I was trying to avoid being taxed," said Ahmad Zahid

Rayer then stood up to ask more questions but Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun told him that there was no more time.

"My only question is why didn't you keep the money in the country?" asked Rayer.

Ahmad Zahid replied, "On that part, we can discuss it in the Parliament canteen. Regarding the corporate sector, maybe he only knows about legal matters. If you talk about corporate restructuring, mergers, take-overs, please learn from me."

In the Pandora Papers expose, Ahmad Zahid was allegedly listed in the files of Algocal, who acted as agents of a firm called Breedon Ltd in the British Virgin Islands (BVI).

Breedon was incorporated in September 1996 with Ahmad Zahid listed as a director before the company's name was changed to Rising Resources (BVI) Ltd in November that year.

In 1999, the company had a share capital of US$50,000 (RM208,000), but the nature of the business was not revealed.

However, subsequent documents from Algocal showed the company had been "struck off" for being dormant several years after incorporation.

The Pandora Papers are a data leak, the largest of its kind, involving 2.94 terabytes of data provided anonymously to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

Nearly 12 million documents and other records from 14 offshore service providers that set up and manage shell companies and trusts in tax havens around the world are contained in the data.