He said this when responding to claims by Ramesh Rao of NGO Pertubuhan Minda dan Sosial Prihatin, who said a book entitled “Malaysian Maverick” stated clearly that the country’s longest serving premier had billions of assets in his possession.
“I don’t have anything, when I retired, the government offered me free land, I rejected it. I paid for the land.”
Mahathir said he did not take anything and whatever he was given during his tenure as a prime minister, he had returned.
He added that he was able to save money when he was Prime Minister because everything was paid for by the government.
“I don’t have billions of dollars in my private account,” he said after launching the Ehime Fair at Isetan, KLCC here today.
Earlier this week, Ramesh challenged Mahathir to declare his assets, in retaliation to the Umno veteran’s continued attacks on Prime Minister Najib Razak on his alleged lavish lifestyle and alleged corruption.