KUALA LUMPUR - Two sons of former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad have gone on record to say that they are not the subject of a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigation.

Tan Sri Mokhzani Mahathir and Mr Mirzan Mahathir said in a joint statement on April 27 that the notice handed out to each of them states that they are a son of a person suspected to have committed an offence under Section 23 of the MACC Act.

“We understand the whole exercise is to determine if our father, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, abused his position as prime minister to enrich us,” they said.

“We are keen to disprove these accusations and want to prove that whatever we have earned over the years is through legitimate means through proper channels and without any crime being committed.”

Both brothers added that they are appreciative of the extension given to them by MACC on the declaration notice, which was first served in January under the MACC Act.

“We would like to put it on record that, contrary to media reports, we are not the subject of any MACC investigation,” they said.

The brothers said they are required to declare their assets covering a period of 43 years.

“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,” said the brothers.

“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 added that most of the documents are no longer available, especially from financial institutions and even from the public sector.

The brothers in their statement noted that even the Inland Revenue Board requires taxpayers to keep sufficient records only for a period of seven years, and the Registrar of Companies as well.

“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,” the statement read.

On April 16, Dr Mahathir had claimed that graft busters were saying that he had committed an offence under the MACC Act, according to a notice sent to his son, Mr Mirzan.

MACC has given the two brothers a 30-day extension from April 26 to declare their assets to the anti-graft body. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK