KUALA LUMPUR – Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was put under the spotlight in Parliament today over allegations against him in an exposé dubbed the Pandora Papers that implicated several high-profile Malaysians.
The document, reported Malaysiakini, claims that Zahid was among those whose names were mentioned relating to offshore dealings, with others including the likes of Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz and former cabinet member Tun Daim Zainuddin.
On Zahid, the document claims the Bagan Datuk MP had acted as the agent of a firm called Breedon Limited in the British Virgin Islands.
He had supposedly acted as a director for the company, which was incorporated in September 1996. In the same year, the then 44-year-old politician won the race for the Umno Youth chief position.
Malaysiakini reported that subsequent documents found that the company had been struck off for being dormant several years after incorporation.
Taking note of this, R.S.N. Rayer (Jelutong-PH) asked Zahid if he intends to bring back the offshore money to assist the country in its economy.
Zahid responded saying the incident took place years ago when he was the chief executive officer of a listed company, which had investments in a major economic country.
He said then the country involved had introduced a limited liability partnership policy which meant profits made there could not be transferred out and could only be reinvested.
“Obviously, as a listed company, we wanted to ensure dividends can be paid out to all shareholders,” he said when debating the 12th Malaysia Plan in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Zahid went on to say that the company in question no longer exists.
“So don’t assume that I am one like Jelutong, who wants to evade paying taxes,” he said.
Unimpressed by his response, Rayer said: “My question was why the money was kept overseas.”
To this, Zahid said: “That we can discuss in the canteen. You have not involved yourself in the corporate world, so you may not understand.”
“(Things like) corporate restructuring, mergers, takeovers, please learn from me.” – The Vibes, October 4, 2021
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