Malaysia’s Mahathir denies corruption, says most of his money ‘now gone’

Elder statesman challenges Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to prove that he used time in office for personal enrichment.

Putrajaya, Malaysia – Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has denied engaging in corruption, saying he earned his money from his salary during his decades-long political career and most of it is “now gone”.

In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, Mahathir, who is under investigation by the country’s anticorruption agency, hit out at current Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim over remarks that implied that he had used his time in office to enrich himself and his family.

“I am curious as I have not seen this money and don’t know where they are. If I had taken the money, tell the court how you [Anwar] conclude that I had taken the money,” said Mahathir, 98, who is pursuing a 150 million ringgit ($32m) defamation action against his protégé-turned-rival.

Mahathir, who led Malaysia from 1981 to 2003 and again from 2018 to 2020, said he was willing to go to Switzerland with Anwar to look for banks where he could have stashed away his money.

“If we can find such a bank, I will withdraw 100 percent of the money and give it to the Malays,” Mahathir said.