Pandora Papers Pm Duty Bound To End Offshore Financial Abuses Kit Siang

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Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and his cabinet are duty-bound to take proactive action on the matters exposed by the Pandora Papers document leak, said DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang.
Lim said Ismail Sabri’s vow that the government will not interfere in any investigations linked to the Pandora Papers shows that the prime minister does not understand his responsibility.
“His comments show that Ismail Sabri does not fully understand the responsibilities of a prime minister of Malaysia.
“Malaysia, together with other nations and the international financial community, have a responsibility to Malaysians and the world to leverage on the expose to institute reforms against a system of financial secrecy which could bend and break the rule of law in Malaysia and the world,” Lim said in a statement today.
Ismail Sabri had yesterday gave his commitment that the government will not meddle in any investigation against individuals implicated in the Pandora Papers leak.
He had also said the authorities are free to take action should they find evidence of wrongdoing.
In his statement today, Lim said there are other reasons the Malaysian government cannot ignore the Pandora Papers.
He pointed out that Malaysia had ranked third among 147 countries for illicit financial flows, according to the latest 10-year report by think tank Global Financial Integrity (GFI).
The report said Malaysia had lost between US$22.9 billion (RM94.22 billion) and US$33.7 billion (RM138.55 billion) in illicit outflows from 2006 to 2015, he said.
Malaysia specifically highlighted
Secondly, he said unlike the Panama Papers document leak in 2016, Malaysia is specifically highlighted in the Pandora Papers, in particular the alleged involvement of fugitive financier Jho Low in the 1MDB scandal.
A 2020 study by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) had also reported that at least US$11.3 trillion is held offshore, he added.
It is not possible to know how much of this wealth is tied to tax evasion and other crimes due to the complexity and secrecy of the offshore system, he said.
“The Pandora Papers have cast a spotlight on how deeply secretive finance have infiltrated global politics and why governments and global organisations should find ways to address the problem of offshore financial abuses,” he said.
As such, he said Ismail Sabri and his cabinet should not only take proactive action to investigate the individuals implicated by the leak but also what can be done to end offshore financial abuses.
Lim also mooted the setting up of a parliamentary special select committee to investigate the individuals as well as how to end offshore financial abuses.
He also suggested a motion for the first day of the new parliamentary sitting on Oct 25 to amend the Dewan Rakyat Standing Orders to allow the parliamentary select committee to conduct public hearings.
The Pandora Papers refer to more than 11 million documents from 14 service providers who assist individuals and companies to set up entities in tax havens.
The data dump was made to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, who shared access to some 600 journalists globally, including at Malaysiakini.
Among prominent Malaysians named in the Pandora Papers were former finance minister Daim Zainuddin, current Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and PKR’s Selayang MP William Leong.
All individuals said their dealings with offshore entities, including owning or sitting on the boards of these companies, were legitimate and that due taxes had been paid for any assets and earnings related to the offshore companies. - Mkini

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