Umno veteran Tengku the Razaleigh Hamzah today urged the government to examine the Malaysians named in the 'Panama Papers' to find out why they parked their money abroad.

This is for the purpose of good governance and transparency, he added.

"We leave it to the government (to investigate). But I think for the sake of transparency and good governace, we should find out," he said.

He was asked if the government should probe and identify the Malaysians named in the Panama Papers to find out if they harboured any intention to evade tax.

"I am not defending anybody; (if) you break the law, you face the music, including me," he said when met at the Parliament lobby today.

The Panama Papers, which was released on the weekend, was a joint effort of the international Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and Germany-based newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung .

It has been described the largest data leak that journalists have ever worked with, comprising 11.5 million documents that shed light on 214,000 shell companies.

It reportedly took the combined efforts of 370 journalists in 78 countries to sift through the documents.

One of the prime minister’s sons, Mohd Nazifuddin Mohd Najib , was among those named.

He had held directorships in two companies based in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), namely Jay Marriot International and PCJ International Venture Limited.

When asked about Najib's son, Tengku Razaleigh said it was wrong to focus on only one person.

He also noted that it was a practice of some Malaysians to park their money offshore to evade tax and that it had been going on for a long time.

"The concern is whether if it's proper for people to avail themselves of the facility. But why not?" he said.

"It's not only politicians - if anyone feels they need to keep money in a foreign country, in places that can save them from paying tax, why not?

"I'm not saying it's not wrong but if that can help them save money, then they will choose to save," he said.