The businessman who had allegedly profited from two of Mara Inc Sdn Bhd's property acquisitions in Melbourne has defended the deal, stressing that it was above board, said Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli.

Rafizi said the businessman met with him yesterday to tell his side of the story, following Rafizi's series of press conferences exposing alleged overpayments for the transactions.

"He said he had indeed sold the property at a high price that I have stated before. That means he confirms all the financial details that I have revealed: such as buying at A$22 million and selling at A$31 million to Mara and all that. He admitted everything.

"However, in his view, it was a good business and above board business because he happened to have a good property that Mara decided to buy off from him.

"He also admitted that he profited from the price paid by Mara, and he felt that it was a normal business transaction," Rafizi told reporters at a press conference today at the National Oversight and Whistleblower (NOW) headquarters.

Rafizi said he had told the businessman to explain the transactions to the public himself, because the public has a right to know how he was able to buy and sell the properties within months for millions in profit.

The two properties involved are the office buildings at 51, Queen Street and 333, Exhibition Street ( photo ).

Malaysiakini is withholding the name of the businessman, a Malaysian citizen, until he responds to our requests for comments.

Special purpose vehicles

 

Rafizi alleged today that the businessman had set up two companies in Singapore and another two in Australia in late 2012 as special purpose vehicles to facilitate the purchase, citing company registries from these two countries.

 

Mara Inc then subsequently bought over these companies from him in March 2013, thereby taking ownership of the two properties.

 

Meanwhile, Rafizi questioned the involvement of two supposedly non-Mara personnel in the board of another Mara Inc subsidiary, which is based in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and is the holding entity for its property at 746, Swanston Street.

 

The same BVI company was also previously alleged to be the holding entity for Mara Inc’s property at Dudley International House. Both Dudley and 746, Swanston Street are student hostels.

 

Rafizi also highlighted based on documents from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission that the BVI company was registered in Australia as a foreign company only in January 2013, although Mara Inc’s purchase had taken place earlier in August 2012.

 

He claimed that based on his sources in Australia, these two individuals had signed the sales documents on Mara Inc’s behalf although they have no affiliation with Mara.

 

“One has to wonder how a company, agency, or corporation, can authorise individuals who are not part of its organisation to undertake such a commitment like this,” he said.

 

Ties to Umno

He also claimed that one of these two individuals has ties to two Umno youth leaders.

This individual supposedly holds a directorship in one local company

where another director has business ties with one of the co- developers of Dudley House and happens to be the brother-in-law of an Umno youth exco.

In addition this non-Mara director in the BVI company also holds a directorship in another local company, where the chairperson is a senior Umno youth leader.

 

“You may ask me how are these related to his brother-in-law, and this and that. The information given to us is that these are (the two) individuals who are involved behind the scenes.

 

“(This individual) had indeed left his footprints in the transaction, because he signed documents in Australia. He is also the director (of the BVI company) – why was he appointed to a subsidiary of Mara Inc, I also don’t understand and Mara Inc has to explain.

 

“But then you also want to find what is the link between (this person) and Mara, and whether there are any political connections involved.

 

“We were informed that they are close to each other and these are the individuals said to have been involved. That is why I tried to find their involvement and common interests.

 

“I think the onus is on them to explain whether they are involved and the extent of their involvement with (this person) and the purchases that I have mentioned,” Rafizi explained.

Rafizi had previously claimed that there is a discrepancy of A$18.3 million between what was supposedly reported in Australia as the transacted value for the student flat units that Mara Inc had purchased, and the substantially larger sum approved by the Mara council for the purchase.

 

Malaysiakini  has attempted to contact this individual and one of the Umno youth leaders implicated but is unable to reach them as yet. Efforts are also being made to contact the other persons implicated by Rafizi.

 

Malaysiakini is withholding their names and the names of the companies pending their response.

EDITOR'S NOTE: It has been pointed out to us that paragraph 16 to 18 of this article contained some inaccuracies. Relevant corrections have been made. We regret the error.