'Khir did not pay market value for land'
Assistant valuer Noor Faizah Zainuddin has testified that former Selangor menteri besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo had bought Lots 8 and 10 in Section 17, Shah Alam, at a price below the market value.
Assistant valuer Noor Faizah Zainuddin has testified that former Selangor menteri besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo had bought Lots 8 and 10 in Section 7, Shah Alam, at a price below the market value.
She told the Shah Alam High Court that Lot 8, on which a house was situated, was valued at RM3.9 million but was sold to Khir
(right)
at RM2.9 million.
The vacant Lot 10 was valued at RM918,000 but was sold at RM600,000, in the same transaction.
Noor Faizah, 48, is attached to the Shah Alam valuation office, which was in charge of valuing the two plots in the transaction in 2007 for stamp duty purposes.
She related how she had asked the owner - Ditamas director Shamsuddin Hayroni -why the sale price was so low, when carrying out a site visit to the property.
"(He) told me he had a problem and (had) to sell the land below market value," she said during examination-in-chief by DPP Dusuki Mokhtar.
Yesterday, Shamsuddin
(left)
had testified that he had
no choice
but to sell the land to Khir out of fear of that his business would be affected.
During cross-examination, the defence cast doubts upon Noor Faizah’s valuation, positing that the valuation for the purposes of stamp duty are not detailed and not required to be.
To this, the witness agreed with defence counsel Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin’s position that her valuations may not compare to that of a professional private valuer who has the time to be more detailed.
Kamarul also argued that the rise in value was that of the land and the state of the building on it was disregarded. Noor Faizah agreed.
'System does not account for leasehold land'
The defence counsel also made much about the fact that the computer system used to generate Noor Faizah’s valuation report does not account for adjustments for leasehold land which the affected land is.
However, while re-examining the witness, Dusuki countered that while the value of the renovations and state of the mansion was not touched upon by Noor Faizah’s valuation, if it were included, the value may be higher than the one issued.
The civil servant agreed with him. Noor Faizah also clarified, after being questioned by Dusuki, that while the computer system does not adjust for leasehold properties, she adjusted it on her own.
After Noor Faizah’s testimony, the prosecution called upon a valuer from property management firm Henry Butcher, who valued the property in May 2009 upon the request of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
The 30-year veteran valuer valued the combined mansion and properties to be worth RM5,550,000 in 2007, at the time of sale from Shamsuddin to Khir.
He based this on comparable land values obtained from the Jabatan Penilaian dan Perkhidmatan Harta which Noor Faizah is attached to and details of the properties, including photos obtained from a previous 2007 valuation report, obtained from valuer Rahim and Co.
Judge Mohtaruddin Baki adjourned proceedings at 4.45pm. The witness is to be called again to be cross-examined by the defence on Monday next week as he will depart for a business trip after today.
Mohd Khir is charged under Section 165 of the Penal Code with knowingly accepting a bribe, in the form of two plots of land and a mansion at a substantial discount from Shamsuddin.
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