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Tengku Zafrul clarifies "Pandora Papers" link, mulls legal action

KUALA LUMPUR: Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz has clarified reports linking him as among prominent Malaysian figures with offshore accounts.

Tengku Zafrul said he had relinquished his executive and directorship roles in the Kenanga Group by June 2010.

"I wish to clarify that I 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 Bank (Labuan) Ltd.

"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 the Kenanga Group," he said in a statement today.

The statement was made following a report published by Malaysiakini today titled "Politicians, Ministers and M'sian Uber Rich Revealed in Latest Offshore Leak".

Tengku Zafrul said the article had been published despite the fact that Malaysiakini had contacted his aide for clarifications.

"It appears that the publisher chose to proceed with the article by highlighting my name in a manner which suggests that Capital Investment (Labuan) Limited is still associated with me instead of being part of the Kenanga Group. 

"I have referred the matter to my lawyers for further advice and appropriate action," he said.

The report details offshore accounts linked to prominent figures based on data provided to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). 

The secret records are known as the Pandora Papers.

The ICIJ reportedly obtained the trove of more than 11.9 million confidential files and led a team of more than 600 journalists from 150 news outlets that spent two years sifting through them, tracking down hard-to-find sources and digging into court records and other public documents from dozens of countries.

The expose also linked a number of other prominent Malaysians to offshore dealings.

According to Malaysiakini, which was provided with the information by ICIJ, Tengku Zafrul's name appeared as the director of Capital Investment Bank (Labuan) Ltd, a boutique bank incorporated in the offshore jurisdiction of Labuan, in a cache of documents from leading Panama law firm Alemán, Cordero, Galindo & Lee (Alcogal).

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