KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 — Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) should have relied its decision to purchase several Melbourne properties on the valuations of not one but several property agents, PKR’s Rafizi Ramli said today in response to a federal minister’s insistence that the units were bought at market rate.

The Pandan MP, now leading the opposition assault on the federal agency’s controversial deals, also said that the valuation done by the company employed for the property deals, Raine and Horne International, appeared to be an “anomaly” as valuation by other agents indicated that asset prices were still much lower than that paid by MARA Inc.

“Raine and Horne had the properties valued at much higher prices but other agents still valued them lower… so I would say that the valuation done by Raine and Horne was an anomaly.

“He shouldn’t just put faith in just one agent. The more reliable figures would have been those based on the most recent transacted values,” Rafizi told reporters today, referring to Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.

Shafie had insisted on Monday that the property investment unit of MARA had raised the federal agency’s assets by some RM45 million with its Melbourne purchases now the focus on a corruption investigation.

Shafie cited from an international valuation report on the properties he said MARA Inc had conducted on the properties in 2012 and 2013.

But Rafizi said despite Shafie’s argument, it was still wrong for the minister to suggest that MARA should be absolved of any wrongdoing just because the the prices of the properties it purchased have increased.

“That is not the point. The point is was that at the time of the purchase the properties were bought at prices way above market rate.

“Shafie should be addressing that instead of telling us that the prices of the properties have gone up now”.

Rafizi and his National Oversight and Whistleblowers (NOW) have been scrutinising MARA Inc’s Melbourne purchases since Australian daily The Age ran a story on the firm’s Dudley International House buy that exposed links between top MARA officials and certain businessmen connected to the ruling Barisan Nasional.

Last Tuesday, NOW alleged that apart from Dudley House, which MARA Inc reportedly bought for RM67.2 million, the firm also bought three other properties — 746 Swanston Street for RM138.6 million, 333 Exhibition Street for RM99.2 million and 51 Queens Street for RM70.4 million.

The total sum paid for all four properties was RM375.4 million, the oversight body led by Rafizi revealed.

The Pandan MP also said last week that the four property purchases were suspicious as they were either bought through an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands or wired through three different companies in three different countries.

MARA have so far asked two MARA Inc officials to go on leave while the authorities  investigate the matter, while the agency’s chairman Tan Sri Annuar Musa said he will ensure that those found guilty of any wrongdoing will be punished.