KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 — Tycoon Tan Sri Mokhzani Mahathir has denied bagging oil contracts worth billions of ringgit when his father Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was in power.

The co-founder of Sapura Energy Bhd, formerly known as SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd, dismissed the allegation as "fake news”, The Edge reported on its website today.

"That is fake news. SapuraKencana was only set up in 2012. My father was no longer the PM then,” he was quoted as saying during his campaign trail for the Pakatan Harapan (PH) pact in Kedah.

The second son of Dr Mahathir clarified that his father was an adviser to Petronas when SapuraKencana was formed, but pointed out the national oil company has to answer to a board of directors.

"I was not the major shareholder of then SapuraKencana. You are saying the contracts were given when there is a board chairman that reports to you, and you did not know? I don’t understand,” Mokhzani was quoted as adding.

He was responding to criticism from Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak for accepting handouts after allegedly denouncing the government’s 1Malaysia Peoples’ Aid (BR1M) programme to lower-income Malaysians.

According to news reports, Najib then went on to say BR1M may mean nothing to Mokhzani, who allegedly owns 23 luxury cars, and whose wealth was due to Petronas contracts given to his company SapuraKencana Petroleum Berhad.

In his defence, Mokhzani said SapuraKencana’s major shareholder is still its president and group chief executive officer Tan Sri Shahril Shamsuddin, who owns 17.44 per cent in the company, followed by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) with a 5.18 per cent direct stake.

Mokhzani said he stopped being a major shareholder in SapuraKencana after his other firm, Khasera Baru Ltd sold off 387.97 million shares for RM577.46 million, leaving a stake of just 220.03 million shares or a 3.67 per cent stake.

His private asset management company, Kencana Capital Sdn Bhd holds 0.08 per cent and another 0.16 per cent equity interest in Sapura Energy.

"Whether the company’s performance is good, bad or makes losses, he is still the president with a salary of several million ringgit. The second largest shareholder is EPF. I work in public listed companies because there is freedom of choice for people.

"Also, if they don’t like me, they can change me, or sell and buy the shares, wait for dividend and sell. The companies have transparent accounts and publish annual reports,” he was quoted as saying.

In March this year, Forbes Media LLC identified Mokhzani as among the 50 richest persons in Malaysia with a net worth of US$380 million (RM 1.49 billion).

He also clarified his statement on BR1M, saying he meant cash handouts are not always in the best interest of recipients who may grow overly dependent on such financial aid.

Mokhzani said that all strata of society should be able to self-sustain and afford things.

"The way to that is by removing additional costs like the goods and services tax so costs of things won’t go up, create more jobs for Malaysians, increase salaries that would raise productivity.

"So our salary is low, there is GST, petrol pump prices fluctuate but we have to find a way to overcome this instead of giving handouts. That is only surface, short-term solutions. The solution has to make people feel secure and comfortable. That is what I wanted to say,” he was quoted as saying.