KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Sri Mokhzani Mahathir and Mirzan Mahathir, who have been asked to declare their assets, say they are not being probed by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
"The notice handed out to each of us (to declare their assets) was issued as a 'son' of a person suspected to have committed an offence under Section 23 of the MACC Act," they said in a joint statement.
"We understand the whole exercise is to determine if our father Tun Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad abused his position as Prime Minister to enrich us."
"We are keen to disprove these accusations and want to prove that whatever we have earned over the years are through legitimate means, through proper channels, and without any crime being committed."
Previously, MACC Chief Commissioner, Tan Sri Azam Baki confirmed that Mahathir, the country's longest-serving prime minister, was being probed.
Mokhzani and Mirzan said they appreciated MACC giving them an extension of time to declare their assets but hoped the anti-graft agency could provide more details.
"Given that we are required to declare our assets over a period of 43 years and due to the scarcity of information with every passing year, it would greatly assist us if MACC could specify the period that holds the highest significance for their investigations.
"There are insinuations that the reason why we need more time is due to the extent of our wealth. This is not true at all."
They said most of the relevant documents were no longer available, especially those from financial institutions and public sectors.
"The Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia for example only requires taxpayers to keep sufficient records for a period of seven years and so does the Registrar of Companies.
"Having said that, we have been working hard and putting in as much effort as possible to collect these documents but some are near impossible to retrieve as they are just no longer in existence."