Mara building scandal: Teresa demands MACC action after M'sian charged in Melbourne
Calling on Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to back up anti-corruption talk with action, Seputeh MP Teresa Kok has urged that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission begin probing the Mara building scandal in Melbourne.
"The MACC should immediately start a probe now that Australia has charged a suspect who has named two Malaysian “middlemen” in the Mara building scandal allegedly involving a Malaysian public official," she said in a statement.
Calling on Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to back up anti-corruption talk with action, Seputeh MP Teresa Kok has urged that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission begin probing the Mara building scandal in Melbourne.
"The MACC should immediately start a probe now that Australia has charged a suspect who has named two Malaysian “middlemen” in the Mara building scandal allegedly involving a Malaysian public official," she said in a statement.
Yesterday, The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Boon Lye Teen, also known as Dennis Teen, was charged on July 9 with bribing a foreign official and for four counts of false accounts related to the sale in 2013 of a student accommodation block called Dudley House (above) in Melbourne to Mara Incorporated Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Majilis Amanah Rakyat (Mara).
Teen, 68, said to be a Malaysian domiciled in Australia, has been charged with bribing a foreign public official on March 8, 2013, in Vermont South, Melbourne.
The charges come five years after an investigation by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald which revealed the price of the property had allegedly been inflated by AU$4.75 million (RM14.25 million) to provide kickbacks to a group of Malaysian officials.
According to the court documents filed at the Melbourne Magistrates Court, it was alleged that the agreed sale price for the property was AU$17.85 million (RM 53.55 million) but it was later sold for AU$22.6 million (RM 67.8 million), with US$4.75 million (RM14.25 million) paid to Malaysian officials.
"The charging of Teen has now put the MACC and Malaysian government in the spotlight.
"Malaysians are now watching closely whether the MACC and Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) will take action on the Malaysian officials involved in this corruption case," Kok said.
She said the MACC should take the cue from the Australian investigators which have named the two “middlemen” known as Zach Zainal and Erwan Azizi as having received the RM14.25 million to be used as bribes to influence a Malaysian public official to obtain or retain business, namely in the sale of a residential apartment complex.
"It will not be hard for the Malaysian authorities to track these two middlemen," she added.
Kok highlighted that on March 18, 2016, it was reported that the then Mara chairperson Annuar Musa has delivered documents related to the purchase to the MACC.
She added that on Nov 30, 2017, the then rural and regional development minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob was reported to have said MACC was almost done with the Mara property scandal probe, and the graft busters were waiting for a report from the Australian authorities regarding the transactions.
"However, four years later, MACC has not taken any action on the Malaysian officials named in the transaction of the said property in Australia.
"The action taken by the Australian police on Boon Lye Teen will certainly raise eye-brows here on whether the MACC and AGC Malaysia will take similar action on the Malaysian officials who were involved in the case," she said.
Kok said since Muhyiddin has repeatedly stated that the PN government is serious in wiping out corruption in the country, it is high time for the PN government to walk the talk by taking action against the Malaysian officials involved in the property scandal which was first exposed in 2015.
"It will be a shame to the Malaysian government and the people if it is not seen to be doing anything about this case," added Kok.
