KUALA LUMPUR: Those with government positions who have been implicated in the Pandora Papers will be asked to provide an explanation in Parliament soon, says Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

       "I want to give a commitment that I will discuss (this) with the Prime Minister, so those who are involved in the Pandora Papers will be contacted for an explanation.

       "Their personal explanation can be made in Parliament," the de facto law minister said in Parliament in reply to Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan (BN-Pontian) during Question Time on Monday (Oct 25).

       Ahmad had interjected and asked Wan Junaidi whether or not those with government positions implicated in the Pandora Papers will provide an explanation in Parliament.

       "(Those) such as the Finance Minister, Bagan Datuk MP, and (others) with government positions, must answer in Parliament," Ahmad said.

       The matter was also raised by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (PH-Port Dickson) during Question Time.

       Anwar wanted a guarantee from Wan Junaidi that the matter will be investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the police Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID).

       In response, Wan Junaidi said he will invite all the investigative bodies mentioned by Anwar to probe those involved in the Pandora Papers.

       "I will invite the MACC, BNM, the CCID and other bodies to brief the Prime Minister (on why) investigations should commence," he said.

       Earlier, Wan Junaidi said the MACC had not begun investigating the Pandora Papers.

       "But it is still in the process of holding discussions with other relevant agencies including BNM, to ensure that coordination regarding this matter runs smoothly," he added.

       Meanwhile, Wan Junaidi said unlicensed remittance activities are also being monitored by BNM.

       Between 2017 and 2020, 64 cases of unlicensed remittance activities were brought to court, involving RM11mil in fines and forfeiture of property, he said.

       The Pandora Papers are a data leak involving 2.94 terabytes of data which cited the opening of offshore accounts involving former and current government and political leaders around the world, including Malaysia.

       Among those named in the Pandora Papers as having offshore accounts were Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (BN-Bagan Datuk) and Selayang PKR MP William Leong.