No wealth stored in offshore accounts, says Dr M

PETALING JAYA: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad says he does not have any money stored in offshore accounts and that there is no evidence of this "great wealth".

In a Facebook post on Tuesday (Oct 5), the former prime minister said he had never been involved in any corruption and had fought against it.

"Many people believe I have huge amounts of money stashed abroad. No evidence has been revealed that I have this great wealth.

"But that does not mean it is untrue that I do not have this wealth. It is just that I am said to be clever at hiding my great wealth," he said.

He added that he did not practise a lavish lifestyle during his time as prime minister.

"Yes, I built two houses but they were built with government loans I was entitled to and through money borrowed from a bank.

"They were not expensive and I was able to repay the loans with my salary and allowance as prime minister.

"It was sufficient because the government provided me with housing, paid my electricity and water bills, and made several vehicles, even airplanes, available for my use," he added.

He also said that he did not own any shares except for 200 British American Tobacco shares that he bought before he was an MP.

"The only shares I bought after I joined the government were those in Permodalan Nasional and other official funds when I launched them.

"But usually not more than 1,000 shares. The return was not big. I did not sell... these shares," he said, adding that he did not dabble in the stock market either.

He also said his children were not allowed to do business with the government and be involved in politics to avoid being accused of nepotism during his tenure as head of government.

He urged Malaysians to always monitor the performance of the government in order to free the country from corruption.

"We must reject corruption and rid our country of it," he said.

A number of prominent Malaysians were among those named in the Pandora Papers leak recently for allegedly stashing their money in offshore companies and trusts.

The Pandora Papers data leak, the largest of its kind, involves 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 managed shell companies and trusts in tax havens around the world are contained in the data.