This comes after opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim raised the question of the leak in the Dewan Rakyat again today, asking if any action will be taken against Malaysians named in the documents.
In response, law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said he will meet with representatives from enforcement agencies and convey the prime minister’s instructions to them on the matter.
“I give you the guarantee that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Bank Negara and the police commercial crime unit, among others, will be invited for this briefing,” he said, adding that they will be given a deadline to report the findings.
Anwar had asked the prime minister to state the government’s plan of action on the Pandora Papers leak which had named several prominent Malaysians, including MPs.
He had sought a guarantee that the government would probe the matter as nothing has been done all these years despite several reports of huge outflow of funds illegally from the country.
Wan Junaidi said the opposition should give the new government a chance as “different governments take different actions”.
“Give the prime minister an opportunity,” he said, adding that the government guarantees that action will be taken.
Earlier, Wan Junaidi said Bank Negara has strict protocols to monitor any illicit outflow of funds under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism (AML-CFT), besides other laws.
“Other enforcement agencies such as the police, MACC, Customs and inland revenue board also have the authority to monitor and are always ready to help.”
However, he pointed out that the recent leak in the Pandora Papers only stated the names of account holders and the directors holding offshore accounts while the Global Financial Integrity (GFI) deals with illicit movement of funds to avoid taxes.
He said it is not wrong for Malaysians to have offshore accounts as long as it is not against the country’s offshore laws.
But Anwar interjected to say that there is a link between GFI and the Pandora Papers.
“People are not questioning the offshore accounts, but people are questioning the illicit financial flows. This involves money that is illegally earned and crosses international borders,” he said.
“I want a clear instruction from the prime minister to state that investigations will be instituted and that no one will be protected.”
In Asia, Anwar said, GFI reports state that Malaysia was the worst among 30 countries involved in these illegal movement of funds derived from corruption, gambling, human trafficking and logging.
In the 2015 GFI report, he said, Malaysia was listed as having moved RM139 billion, India RM41 billion, Bangladesh RM25 billion and the Philippines RM21.6 billion.
“This necessitates a probe as it involves big names besides the huge outflow of funds,” he said.