The Australian Federal Police (AFP) last month seized properties worth A$1.6 million (RM4.8 million) owned by a relative of a Malaysian – a central figure in the purchase of student accommodation by Mara Inc, in Melbourne five years ago.

On July 7, Boon Lye Teen, also known as Dennis Teen, was charged on July 9 with bribing a foreign official and on four counts of false accounts related to the 2013 sale of a student accommodation block called Dudley House (above) in Melbourne to Mara Inc.

Teen, 68, said to be a Malaysian domiciled in Australia, was charged with bribing a foreign public official on March 8, 2013, in Vermont South, Melbourne.

"It is alleged A$4.75 million was paid to entities in Malaysia who were either linked to a Malaysian public official or officials, or to agents acting on their behalf, in return for the officials’ arranging for the Malaysian government-owned entity to purchase the property," the federal police said.

The Age and Sydney Morning Herald said bank accounts held by the accused’s wife and the accused’s associated companies were also restrained.

AFP acting national manager of Criminal Assets Confiscation, Stefan Jerga, said the seizures were part of sweeping nationwide efforts by the police to seize assets linked to alleged criminals.

The charges against Teen come five years after an investigation by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald which revealed the price of the property had allegedly been inflated by A$4.75 million (RM14.25 million) to provide kickbacks to a group of Malaysian officials.

Court documents allege that Teen “provided, or promised to provide, a benefit, namely the sum of A$4.75 million (RM14.25 million) to other persons, including one 'Zach Zainal' and one 'Erwan Azizi', with the intention of influencing a foreign public official in Malaysia in order to obtain or retain business, namely the sale of a student residential apartment complex”.

During a filing hearing at the Melbourne Magistrates Court, prosecutor Santo De Pasquale from the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions told the court that Australian police will allege the original agreed sale price for the property was A$17.85 million (RM53.55 million) but it was later sold for A$22.6 million (RM67.8 million), with A$4.75 million (RM14.25 million) paid to Malaysian officials.

The police case involves the Australian end of a sophisticated alleged bribery scheme involving offshore accounts and numerous overseas officials who have yet to face justice.

Investigative journalists

The charging of Dennis Teen and the seizure of his relatives’ property was sparked by a 2015 investigation by Australian journalist Nick McKenzie working together with Malaysian journalist R Nadeswaran. Together, the issue of the alleged bribe payments funnelled through various Australian properties was initially brought to public attention.

The newspapers noted that the seizure of the properties linked to Teen on Aug 18 marks one of several rare but important wins for federal agents in the David versus Goliath battle against Australian businesses bribing overseas officials or using offshore tax havens to allegedly engage in serious financial crime.

The newspapers also reported that the AFP also secured another crucial victory in the fight against international financial crime, with the guilty plea of a Sydney businessperson who bribed officials on the island of Nauru to win mining concessions.

Court records reveal that self-professed international trade executive Mozammil Gulamabbas Bhojani indicated in August he would plead guilty to conspiring to bribe officials on the phosphate-rich island nation.

The AFP arrested Bhojani in 2018, accusing him of paying unnamed Nauruan mining officials bribes of more than $100,000 to secure benefits for his business, Radiance International. - Mkini