Did MACC, Mara receive tip-off on property purchase in Melbourne, asks Kit Siang

DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang suggests that MACC and Mara may not have revealed anything about their earlier investigation into the Melbourne property purchase by Mara Inc, had it not been for the expose by Australian newspaper The Age. – The Malaysian Insider pic, June 27, 2015.

DAP today wants Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) to explain if they received a tip-off on the alleged irregularities behind the controversial purchase of a property in Australian.

The party's parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang said that if there is such a tip-off, Mara chairman Tan Sri Annuar Musa and the anti-graft body need to explain why no action was taken against those responsible before an Australian daily, The Age published it on Tuesday.

"MACC should explain whether it is true that it had received information about Mara Inc's property purchase in Melbourne last year which was the reason why the MACC probe was initiated some six months ago.

"It should explain why the MACC action appeared to be more of a 'cover up' rather than a 'bust up' to bring the culprits to book.

"Would MACC and Mara continue to ignore information about corruption of Mara Inc property purchase in Melbourne if The Age had not exposed it on Tuesday?" he asked in a statement today.

In its expose of overpriced purchase by Mara of an apartment block in Melbourne, The Age had reported that “a group of super-rich Malaysian officials” overpaid by A$4.75 million (RM13.8 million) for the property in 2013.

The trio had allegedly “overbid” for Dudley International House, from A$17.8 million to A$22.5 million (RM65.3 million), with the difference pocketed as bribes back home.

Australian developers of the property received sham invoices for fake services, such as “consultancy and advisory”, from Malaysian firms, the paper had said.

Following the report, Annuar had said Mara began investigations into the multi-million ringgit purchase of the building by one of its subsidiaries two months ago, way before the matter was highlighted by the Australian newspaper.

MACC investigation director Datuk Mohd Jamidan Abdullah also announced that the body had dispatched an officer to Melbourne as part of the agency's probe into the matter.

Two days ago, Australian police launched raids on several Melbourne properties and even seized some equipment from a house in South Vermont.

Lim said a blog had published an account of how the RM13.8 million had been allegedly "distributed" among six persons.

"Can Mara and MACC confirm this blog report?" asked the Gelang Patah MP.