Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) has just finished with the appointment process for the audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to vet its controversial property purchases abroad, Mara council chairperson Annuar Musa said.

The appointment was supposed to be done last month, and he had to intervene to expedite the process, Annuar told reporters last night.

“It was supposed to be last month, but they needed to prepare the terms of reference. The terms of reference are tied in with the cost, and we needed to get approval in accordance with certain financial procedures.

“But I have given the orders last week that everything must be expedited. Don’t delay with the bureaucracy of the appointment because we need more detailed information.

“It determines the way Mara works in the future. We don’t want any mistakes and we don’t want mistakes to repeat,” Annuar told reporters in Kuala Lumpur last night, after attending a charity dinner and premier of the film ‘Jejak Warriors’, in which he served as an adviser and made a cameo appearance.

Annuar added that the Mara property purchase audit process would incur a high cost, because the auditor would have to travel overseas for much of the investigation.

He said firm action would be taken if any wrongdoing is found.

Annuar had announced on July 2 that Mara council has decided to appoint PwC to audit its property purchases abroad, particularly those in London and Australia.

He told reporters at the time that after questioning officials in its investment arm Mara Inc, there is ‘reasonable suspicion’ over many issues in the company’s purchases, and suspended the company’s top two officers.

However, he had stressed that Mara Inc chairperson Mohammad Lan Allani’s and Mara Inc CEO Abdul Halim Abdul Rahim’s suspensions do not imply wrongdoing on their part, but was meant to ensure that investigations could proceed without interference.

The July announcement came amid scrutiny over Mara Inc’s four property purchases in Melbourne, after the Australian media claimed that the company had overpaid for the student hostel at Dudley International House, after which the excess was laundered as kickbacks for Malaysian officials.

Soon after the scandal broke, Pandan MP Mohd Rafizi Ramli and his colleague National Oversight and Whistlebloswers (NOW) director Akmal Nasir held almost daily press conferences alleging, among others, that the three other properties were also overpaid.

Commenting on external investigation last night, Annuar said Mara have yet to receive any feedback from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on the issue.

However, he said there was no need for MACC to report to Mara about the investigation, nor should Mara disturb the MACC.

He gave his assurance that Mara would give its full cooperation to MACC in the event that it needs assistance.