Details of alleged corruption involving several Malaysians which were published in Australian newspaper The Age yesterday will be ‘thoroughly investigated’, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has vowed.
“Local authorities will conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations and if there was any wrongdoing, action will be taken,” Najib said via his Facebook and Twitter channels yesterday.
READ: MARA officer, “former politician” implicated in Australian real estate scam operation
The newspaper reported on its website yesterday that the deal, which involved marking up the price of an apartment block near Melbourne’s Monash University, was instigated by local developers and was used by the Malaysians as a money laundering scheme.
The Malaysians, acting on behalf of MARA, had allegedly “overbid” on the sale price of the apartment block, named Dudley International House, by a mark up of AUD4.75 milion (RM13.8 million). The building, assessed to be worth AUD17.8 million (RM51.33 million), was therefore bought for AUD22.5 million (RM65.3 million) instead.
MARA is expected to make a formal statement today.
