TENGKU Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz today clarified he had relinquished all executive and directorship roles at Kenanga Group in 2010, adding that he is seeking legal advice on an article in a news portal linking him to the Pandora Papers. 

The finance minister was responding to Malaysiakini’s article titled Politicians, Ministers and M’sian Uber Rich Revealed in Latest Offshore Leak, which details offshore accounts linked to prominent figures based on data provided to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). 

Tengku Zafrul was named director of the Labuan Incorporated Capital Investment Bank (Labuan) Ltd in documents from Panama law firm Alemán, Cordero, Galindo & Lee. 

Capital Investment was Kenanga Holdings Bhd’s offshore investment banking unit. The group sold its entire stake to Amanie Corp Advisors Sdn Bhd in 2014 for more than RM6 million. 

“Notwithstanding the fact they had contacted my aide who informed Malaysiakini that I had relinquished my directorships when I left Kenanga Group in June 2010, it appears that the publisher chose to proceed with the article by highlighting my name in a manner that suggests Capital Investment is still associated with me instead of being part of the Kenanga Group,” Tengku Zafrul said in a statement today.

“I have referred the matter to my lawyers for further advice and appropriate action,” he added.

The former banker said he was the group director and a member of the executive management committee of Kenanga Holdings Bhd from January 2009 to June 2010. 

“In this role, I also held directorships in several subsidiaries or associated companies of the Kenanga Group, which included Capital Investment.

“By June 2010, I had assumed the role of chief executive officer at Maybank Investment Bank Bhd and had, therefore, taken steps to relinquish my executive and directorship roles in Kenanga Group,” he said.

Other prominent figures named in the leak were Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and former finance minister Daim Zainuddin.

Responding to Malaysiakini, Daim said some of the trusts accounts linked to him highlighted in the article belonged to his children while others were linked to the now delisted ICB Banking Group, which he owned.

He said he has paid taxes for income earned in every jurisdiction where he does business.

“There are many businesses here in Malaysia and worldwide with the name ICB, and I have no knowledge of them,” he told the news portal.

“The ICB I owned had operations in more than 14 countries on three continents and was successfully listed in London. I delisted it when I realised I was getting too old to go globetrotting and none of my children wanted to take over,” he added.

He said the banking sector in the countries where his businesses are operating in are highly regulated and strictly vetted.

“Any assets I have overseas, I purchased them decades ago. I have been buying properties overseas since the 1960s and well before politics. I have bought and sold through the years and those I have kept, of course, appreciated in value. They are professionally managed and give good returns,” he said.

Daim, who was part of Pakatan Harapan’s Council of Eminent Persons, said he was a successful and wealthy businessman before he entered politics.

He also questioned the purpose of the article and the news portal’s never-ending “obsession” with him.

“The constant reporting and implying wrongdoing by innuendos and speculation are totally unprofessional and looks like a never-ending mission to shame and discredit me. I do not understand what is the motive on the part of Malaysiakini, and I do not wish to speculate,” he said.

An anonymous dump of 2.94 terabytes of confidential financial files made available to the ICIJ comprised more than 11.9 million documents and other records from 14 offshore service providers that set up and manage shell companies and trusts in tax havens around the globe. – October 4, 2021.