The Public Accounts Committee must probe the alleged inflated purchase of a block of apartments in Melbourne, Australia by Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara), urged PKR president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail today.
She said that the scandal was just the latest addition to those that have surfaced since the beginning of the Najib administration.
“It is very sad that at a time when scholarships and Mara's budget are being cut, the wastage of some RM60 million has (allegedly) happened as a result of misappropriation by the management.
“I urge the PAC to investigate the sale of this property by Mara Incorporated (Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Mara) immediately, and display it during the sixth Parliament sitting, which will start on March 5.
“I also urge Mara president Awang Adek Hussin to investigate the property sale,” Wan Azizah told a press conference at PKR headquarters in Petaling Jaya.
Australian daily The Sydney Morning Herald previously reported that Mara Inc paid about RM138 million - almost double the valued price - for an apartment block in Melbourne in 2012.
The original owner of the apartment, Australian businessperson Lionel Harber, was reportedly “taken aback” when he learned that his property had been sold at an inflated price.
Mara Inc had bought the apartment, called Unilodge and located along Melbourne CBD’s main trunk road Swanston Street, through two companies registered in the British Virgin Islands - Scarlett Nominees Limited and shell company Thrushcross Limited.
Malaysiakini previously revealed that RM60 million in stolen funds were wired to a former senior Mara official’s overseas bank account as a result of this property deal.
However, then Mara Inc chairperson Mohammad Lan Allani said he could not remember the details of the transaction.
“What I can say is if the company (Thrushcross) is a shell company, there is no way Mara Inc board would approve the deal. Our SOP (standard operating procedure) is very thorough.
“While I was chairman, I was very meticulous. The SOP must be comprehensive. We had an evaluation process. Only when all these were completed, only then we would proceed,” he previously said.- Mkini
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