The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has identified overvalued properties purchased by Mara Inc in Australia and the UK in 2013 and 2014.
In a statement today, PAC chairman Mas Ermieyati Samsudin named the properties in question as Dudley International House, 51 Queen Street and 333 Exhibition Street in Melbourne, bought in 2013; and Beaumont House in London, bought in 2014.
“The finance ministry did not authorise these purchases, but the rural and regional development ministry appealed the matter, which was brought to the economic council which then approved it in 2013.
“The case involving (Mara Inc’s) purchase of overvalued properties in Melbourne, Australia has been investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and is still being heard in court,” she said.
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Mas Ermieyati said PAC recommended that the rural and regional development ministry, Majlis Amanah Rakyat, Mara Corp, and Mara Inc obtain prior approval from the finance ministry for all proposed investments to ensure that “property purchase scandals do not recur”.
She said PAC’s findings on Mara Inc were the result of three proceedings held in July and September this year. Those present included Mara director-general Azhar Abdul Manaf, Mara Corp group corporate planning director Amir Azhar Ibrahim, and Mara Inc CEO Fadzil Idris.
PAC’s announcement followed MACC’s investigations into the alleged bribery of a foreign officer by a Malaysian living in Australia in the sale of Dudley International House to Mara Inc in 2013.
Australian newspaper The Age claimed that its sale was part of a “global money laundering and bribery scheme engineered by greedy local developers and powerful officials overseas who pocketed A$4.75 million (RM13.8 million) in bribes on this single deal”.
In 2021 and 2022, former Mara Inc chairman Lan Allani pleaded not guilty to 24 charges of corruption and money laundering in relation to the property scandal in Australia.
PAC also highlighted Mara Inc’s application to convert Premiera Hotel’s existing debt to equity for a second time after the first attempt in 2015.
“(It) was a move that should not have happened. PAC recommends that the rural and regional development ministry, Mara, Mara Corp, and Mara Inc have clear plans to ensure that this conversion of debt to equity can bring in returns that’ll contribute to the company’s sustainability,” said Mas Ermieyati.
Source : MSN
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