KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 — Datuk Seri Nazir Razak yesterday praised Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) chairman Tan Sri Annuar Musa for suspending two MARA Inc officials pending corruption investigations into the latter firm’s property purchases in Australia.
In a post on photo-sharing service Instagram, the CIMB Group chairman said the decision would facilitate the probe into allegations of kickbacks into at least four MARA Inc deals involving the duo.
“Compliments to DS Annuar Musa. Right steps taken, best way to the truth,” Nazir wrote as the caption to a photograph of a news report on the matter.
Yesterday, Annuar announced that MARA Inc chairman Datuk Mohamad Lan Allani and chief executive Datuk Abd Halim Rahim will be relieved of their duties pending the graft investigation.
Annuar said the MARA board found suspicious information about the property deals after perusing the interim report and testimony by MARA Inc officials, which led to the decision to suspend the duo.
He also revealed that the federal agency will appoint international accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers to conduct an audit of MARA Inc's investments not just in Australia, but the UK as well.
The audit will include the RM65 million Dudley House purchase and three other deals exposed by a whistleblower group run by PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli.
The brother to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has in recent months been an outspoken figure on the topic of corporate governance, regularly criticising 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) over what he considers shortcomings in the manner they conduct their affairs.
1MDB is under investigation by at least four federal agencies.
