Property purchase in Melbourne according to procedures - Mohd Shafie

The property purchase in Melbourne, Australia by a subsidiary of Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA), Mara Incorporated Sdn Bhd is in accordance with procedures, says Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.

He said there was only one agreement on the property purchase, and looking at the facts available, there was no element related to inflated price as reported by the Australian newspaper, The Age.

"And, we made the agreement, there was an agreement, if there are issues raised that the price was inflated, we have the agreement with the seller, the buyer, how much it was sold, the value, how much we paid. So, if there are allegations, if there is evidence, they can complain.

"I would say that the facts which they had communicated were incorrect, based on what is stipulated in the agreement, what are stated in the agreement are correct, unless, there was another agreement," he told reporters after 'iftar' with village security committees (JKK) yesterday.

Mohd Shafie said as explained by MARA chairman Tan Sri Annuar Musa, the purchase of the building was at a price of A$22 million; however, the price of the building had today gone up to A$27 million.

"This means that the MARA-owned building is much more valuable than what we paid for so, from what we see, there were no losses, in fact the building is ours, not anyone else's and the profits belong to MARA," he said.

According to him, the purchase of the building was to provide housing for students, as they were aware of the distance for students to attend lectures.

"With that, the MARA management had checked on the valuation by international bodies, to determine if the value of the land or building was reasonable or otherwise," he said.

Mohd Shafie said he would leave the matter to the MARA management, and the focus now was to explain based on facts, not on fiction and assumption, as soon as possible.

"When the information is channelled to the rakyat, they can deduce who is right," he noted.

On the issue of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's alleged involvement on the purchase, he asked: "How can he be associated? He is on the economic council, the chairman, this involves several ministers. All had agreed to approve it, not one person, the process is very thorough, we follow the rules," he said.

In the meantime, Mohd Shafie said he would also cooperate in the investigations, and would not compromise if there were discrepancies.

Australian newspaper, The Age, reported that a top MARA officer, senior official and former politician had allegedly spent millions in government funds to buy an apartment block in Melbourne in a property scam.

It alleged that "a group of super-rich Malaysian officials" had overpaid by A$4.75 million (RM13.8 million) for the apartment block in the city in 2013.

The trio had allegedly "overbid" for the building, called Dudley International House, from A$17.8 million to A$22.5 million (RM65.3 million), with the difference pocketed as bribes back home.

The five-storey building located in suburban East Caulfield currently accomodates 115 MARA students studying at Monash University.

Meanwhile, in his meeting with village security committees, Mohd Shafie said the government, through the 11th Malaysia Plan would put in efforts to enhance infrastructure systems in improving rural economy.

With this approach, the income of rural communities could be improved and to some extent, create a balance between urban and rural areas, he added.

Shafie, who was on a working visit to Kedah yesterday, visited a mineral water processing plant in Kampung Charuk Tualang, Sik and redevelopment area projects in Pengkalan Batu Lintang, Sungai Petani.