KUALA LUMPUR (March 2): The government is obligated to explain how parties implicated in the Pandora Papers accumulated a "suspicious amount" of wealth through offshore financial dealings, said de facto law minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.

“The authorities are conducting an investigation to prove the veracity of the disclosure. This is because some of the names [mentioned in the Pandora Papers] are those who have held positions in the government,” she told the Dewan Rakyat in a written reply dated Wednesday (March 1).

“The people need to know how those who are named acquired or accumulated such a huge amount of wealth, and were allegedly kept abroad. The focus of the investigation is to investigate the source of ownership, and whether it was looted from the country,” she added.

Azalina said a detailed analysis by the ad-hoc Analysis Working Group is required because the establishment of offshore companies and the opening of bank accounts in offshore jurisdictions are not necessarily illegal.

The working group consists of the National Anti-Financial Crime Centre, Royal Malaysian Police, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Inland Revenue Board (IRB) and Labuan Financial Services Authority.

Nonetheless, Azalina noted that the establishment of offshore entities and offshore transactions can be misused by financial criminals, tax evaders and criminals who accept bribes, especially through "layering" to prevent illegal proceeds from being easily detected.

Hence, Azalina said the working group’s analysis involves several provisions under the Income Tax Act 1967, the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, the MACC Act 2009 and other related laws.

Azalina was responding to Mohammed Taufiq Johari [PKR-Sungai Petani], who asked the government to state the latest development of the investigation into the disclosure of the Pandora Papers and whether Putrajaya intends to table the report of the investigation in Parliament.

“The examination of the documents is underway. In addition, some details and financial documents from foreign countries are in the process of being obtained by the working group,” said Azalina.

She updated that the MACC has taken action with the help of BNM and IRB in conducting a review from several external entities to obtain more information regarding the allegations in the Pandora Papers.

“Enforcement agencies will continue to collect information especially from abroad regarding the exposed transactions,” she added.

Azalina said the MACC has already conducted an investigation related to the Pandora Papers issue, involving subjects who are alleged to have offshore accounts, companies or trustee firms abroad.

“The government is committed to continue taking decisive steps in curbing illicit financial outflows, financial crimes and leakages on national resources,” she said.

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