In an Instagram post last night, Kamaluddin “categorically” denied the claim, and said Mahathir was “obviously very upset and very angry with many things and many people”.

“The best we can do is pray for his well-being and hope that in his twilight years, he finds peace with himself,” he wrote.

Mahathir was reported on Friday as claiming he had learned from his son of the conversation with Kamaluddin.

“They (his successors) believed that during my time as prime minister, I was abusing power and was corrupt.

“The son of Abdullah told my son, ‘It was your turn before, now it is our turn’. Our turn for what? To steal money. I was shocked,” Malaysiakini reported him as saying in a podcast on YouTube hosted by former minister Idris Jala and his son, Leon Jala.

Mahathir accused his successors of viewing the power of the prime minister “as a means to enrich themselves” instead of focusing on leading and building the country.

He said he was initially elated when Najib Razak succeeded Abdullah in 2009, since Najib was the son of an illustrious former prime minister.

“He was going to do things well. But you know what happened,” he said, in reference to the 1MDB scandal.