KUALA LUMPUR (May 24): Tan Sri Mokhzani Mahathir and his brother Mirzan Mahathir have applied to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to extend the deadline for the duo to declare their assets after being granted an extension earlier.
The deadline for Mirzan is May 25 and Mokhzani’s is May 29.
When contacted by The Edge, their lawyer Nizamuddin Abdul Hamid confirmed that the two businessmen sons of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had requested an extension.
“Yes, we (the firm) have written to the MACC to ask for an extension,” Nizamuddin said.
On April 26, it was reported that Mirzan and Mokhzani had been given 30-day extensions by the MACC to declare their assets.
Prior to this, the two had been given an extension by the MACC in February.
Mirzan and Mokhzani were called up for questioning by the MACC in January, although it was not clear then what the investigation was about.
The MACC has also directed Mokhzani and his eldest brother, Mirzan, to declare the assets they had accumulated since 1981, the year Mahathir became prime minister for the first time.
The brothers had prior to this said in a statement in February that it would be a difficult task for them to gather 43 years’ worth of information, and sought patience and understanding from the authorities.
They also claimed that their 98-year-old father was the target of the probe.
Later in April, Mirzan and Mokhzani issued a statement denying that they are under an MACC probe.
They said the notice handed to each of them was issued as a "son of a person suspected to have committed an offence under Section 23 of the MACC Act 2009", which is related to an abuse of power by a member of a public or government body, to benefit himself, his relatives, or associates.
"We would like to put it on record that, contrary to media reports, we are not the subject of any MACC investigation. We understand the whole exercise is to determine if our father Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad abused his position as the [then] 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," they said in the joint statement.