The Coalition for Governance, Integrity, Accountability and Transparency (GIAT) said newspapers had named the current prime minister’s son Mohd Nazifuddin Najib, former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s son Mirzan Mahathir and former Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Raja Nong Chik Zainal Abidin.
“If the government is at all serious about building its credibility, then it should not take this lightly. This is the opportunity for them to build public trust and enact real reforms.”
GIAT has also called for asset declarations and stronger taxation laws to stop abuse of public funds and prevent illegal movement of money.
“We also call for the criminal prosecution of those who have circumvented beneficial ownership rules.
“When public officials have secret bank accounts, it is not wrong for the public to speculate on whether or not they have misused public funds, especially when the wealth is disproportionate to their known sources of income.
“Public officials must be held accountable,” it said in a media statement today.
It added an asset declaration system would prevent conflict of interest and abuse of public funds.
A public misconduct law would mean that public officials who are living beyond their means are held accountable, it said.
“While offshore companies are not illegal or criminal, the lack of transparency and opacity regarding the real beneficiaries have resulted in abuse where legal persons have been used as proxies for criminal activities such as money laundering, corruption, fraud and tax evasion.
“There must be stronger laws on tax evasion. There must be the creation of a public registry of beneficial owners so that the public may know who are really behind these companies.”