An HSBC sign is seen outside a bank branch near the Shard in London February 9, 2015. Between 1982 and 2006, the report said there was 77 Malaysian client accounts linked to 201 bank accounts created between 1982 and 2006. — Reuters picKUALA LUMPUR, Feb 15 — Several Malaysian public figures, including the Sultanah Kalsom of Pahang, were listed among those who have an account with the Swiss branch of multinational bank HSBC, after a major leak revealed a clientele consisting of politicians, celebrities, criminals, traffickers and tax dodgers.
According to the leak now dubbed, “Swiss Leaks”, Malaysia was ranked 87th among 203 countries with the most amount of US dollars in the HSBC Swiss account, at US$173.4 million (RM621.6 million).
“Sultanah Kalsom, listed by HSBC as a ‘housewife’, was connected to a numbered client account under the name “3678TE” from September 1994 to November 1997,” said a report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism (ICIJ).
“The leaked files do not specify the exact role that she had in relation to the account,” it added.
ICIJ also pointed out that the Sultanah did not respond to its repeated request for comments.
According to ICIJ, the profession of “housewife” popped up “with amazing frequency” to describe a wealthy married woman, but also in some cases industry pioneers, architects, journalists, teachers, princesses and heiresses.
Among those named “housewives” by HSBC were advertising pioneer Mary Wells Lawrence, Saudi princess and education advocate Lolowah al-Faisal Al Saud, Thai entrepreneur Khunying Patcharee Wongpaitoon, and fashion house heiress Arlette Ricci.
Sultanah Kalsom is the second wife of Sultan Ahmad Shah, after marrying the Pahang ruler in 1992.
ICIJ said that Sultanah Kalsom is involved in charitable activities across Malaysia, including combating domestic violence and promoting childhood development and female empowerment.
Between 1982 and 2006, the report said there was 77 Malaysian client accounts linked to 201 bank accounts created between 1982 and 2006.
Among the 93 clients linked to Malaysia, 28 per cent holds Malaysian passports or nationality.
The most amount of money stored by a Malaysian client was US$67.7 million (RM242.7 million). In comparison, Malaysia’s income per capita is just US$10,500, as per latest data in 2013.
Most of the Malaysian clients held less than US$2 million in their accounts.
Last week, a team of 45 journalists all over the world pored over the leaked files obtained through French daily Le Monde, involving accounts worth more than US$100 billion.
The data was originally smuggled away by a former HSBC employee-turned-whistleblower, Hervé Falciani, and handed to French authorities in 2008, before Le Monde obtained it from the French tax authority’s investigation into the files.
ICIJ then enlisted more than 140 journalists, including reporters from Le Monde, the BBC, The Guardian, “60 Minutes”, Süddeutsche Zeitung and more than 45 other media organisations.