MALAYSIA has among the highest misappropriation of funds and money laundering cases by political leaders and large corporations in the world, Prime Minister (PM) Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said.
He said political leaders and business groups have taken out billions of dollars to be hidden in banks and offshore accounts.
It was one of the highest in the world, he said, referring to revelations by the Global Financial Integrity (GFI) report in 2010, Panama Papers (2016) and Pandora Papers (2017) with regards to offshore accounts owned by Malaysians in several countries.
He believes the large amount of money kept in offshore accounts is the result of illegal activities.
“The amount of money in the GFI report until the Pandora Papers disclosure from Malaysia is quite high compared to the population and economic position. It is true that there are some other big countries such as China, Saudi Arabia and so on, but Malaysia is at the top.
“This means that the money taken out of Malaysia, which is mostly obtained from sources that are considered illegal, is quite high for this country,” he said during the question and answer (Q&A) session in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Anwar was responding to a supplementary question from Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man (Perikatan Nasional-Kubang Kerian) who asked if the government intends to investigate all offshore accounts involving Malaysians, including political funds coming from abroad.
Answering the original question from Datuk Seri Dr Noraini Ahmad (Barisan Nasional-Parit Sulong) regarding the government’s stance on the Pandora Papers issue, Anwar said the investigation by Malaysian Anti-corruption Commission (MACC), Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM), National Anti-financial Crime Centre (NFCC) and the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) are focused on the main political figures of the country.
“The ones mentioned in the Pandora Papers reached 3,000 individuals. Some are authentic, some are traders, but we focus on big political figures.
“(Among them are) the former PM, minister of finance, who are actually believed to have misused their power to unload wealth while they had power,” he noted.
In relation to Noraini’s additional question regarding steps taken by the PM to ensure transparency and accountability in the country’s financial industry, Anwar said he was satisfied with the actions taken so far by MACC, BNM, NFCC and LHDN.
He also warned all parties to stop using the excuse of helping the Bumiputera people in order to enrich themselves and the political party.
“There are policies to help Bumiputeras, limited tenders can be held, those are not prevented. But we cannot use the excuse of helping Bumiputeras to ask companies to give money to individuals or parties, as was the practice before,” he said.
Source: https://themalaysianreserve.com/2023/02/21/malaysia-among-highest-in-fund-misappropriation-says-anwar/