Army vet slams MACC silence on Mara's UniLodge purchase

Persatuan Patriot Kebangsaan has questioned why the authorities have yet to take action on reports that Majilis Amanah Rakyat’s (Mara) had purchased a block of apartments in Melbourne, Australia at an inflated price.

“Four days have passed (since the news report), and not a squeak is heard from those in authority.

“Why the eerie silence on this alleged scandal? Where is the accountability?” asked Persatuan Patriot Kebangsaan president Mohamed Arshad Raji in a statement today.

Australian daily The Sydney Morning Herald last Saturday reported that the original owner of the apartment block UniLodge, Australian businessman Lionel Harber, has confirmed the valuation of his property in 2012 as nearly half what Mara Inc had paid.

Harber was reportedly “taken aback” when he learned that within weeks of selling the building for A$23.5 million (RM77.6 million) to an agent connected to an offshore company, it was resold to Mara Inc for A$41.8 million (RM138 million).

Mohamed Arshad said that “good sense and ethics” demand that the minister concerned address the claims made in the report immediately.

“Malaysians demand a thorough investigation and ultimately a clear explanation to what has transpired,” he said.

All who come under investigation for this must relinquish all posts currently held, he said, and if an offence has been committed, those who are guilty must be severely punished.

MACC has already launched a probe into Mara Inc's Australian property purchases, after the scandal erupted in 2015.

Last November, Rural and Regional Development Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the graft probe was almost complete.

Public money must be spent carefully for the good of the people and as such, any purchase at an inflated price is wrong, he said.

“We are reminded of the shocking report in 1982 by the auditor-general regarding the inflated purchase price of a packet of Maggi instant noodle at RM4, whereas the market price then was only 30 sen,” Mohamed Arshad said.

Since then, the auditor-general’s report has continuously made more and more shocking revelations about abuses, he said.

“This nonsense of government departments and civil servants’ purchases at inflated prices must stop now,” he said. -Mkini