Mahathir now confesses he owns The Loaf after all

But the PPBM chairman says he could not find a buyer for his bakery business.

(FMT) – Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he had wanted to sell bakery franchise The Loaf to help fund his party’s election campaign, but could not find a buyer.

“I couldn’t find a buyer … and I couldn’t support the losses so, I decided to close it down,” he was quoted as saying by Singapore’s The Straits Times during a walkabout in Langkawi yesterday.

The former prime minister who now heads the four-party Pakatan Harapan opposition coalition, said one prospective buyer had been approached by income tax officers who “demanded that he should pay a lot of taxes”.

“This is the way the government pressures people from supporting the opposition,” he told the paper.

The Loaf, which opened its first outlet in Langkawi in 2006, ceased operation on Apr 12.

“Thank you very much for enjoying and supporting the Loaf and our breads all these long years. We are truly happy and proud of the fact that the Loaf has been able to contribute to the betterment of quality of breads and bakery industry in Malaysia,” said a notice posted on social media last week.

Yesterday, Mahathir denied owning a stake in the business.

“I only have some 200 unit shares with a tobacco company and with PNB which were awarded to me when I launched PNB products (when I was PM), ” he had said.