Aussie cops charge man with bribing Malaysian govt official to secure sale of Dudley House

KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 6): The Australian police have charged a man for allegedly bribing a Malaysian government official to secure the sale of a student accommodation in Melbourne, the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reported yesterday.

Australian Teen Boon Lye was charged on July 9 with bribing the Malaysian official, and four counts of false accounting relating to the sale in 2013 of a student accommodation block Dudley House which was then purchased by Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA), said the report which was also carried by Malaysian news portals Malay Mail and Malaysiakini.

According to court documents used for the SMH report, it was alleged that Teen “provided, or promised to provide, a benefit, namely the sum of A$4,750,000 (RM14.36 million) to other persons, including Zach Zainal and Erwan Azizi... with the intention of influencing a foreign public official in Malaysia... in order to obtain or retain business, namely the sale of a student residential apartment complex”.

During a filing hearing at the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday, prosecutor Santo De Pasquale from the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions said that the Australian police would charge that the original agreed sale price for the property was priced at A$17.85 million but was later sold for A$22.6 million with A$4.75 million paid to Malaysian government officials.

De Pasquale said that after settlement, there were allegedly discussions between Teen and “Malaysian agents” who Australian police allege acted on behalf of Malaysian public officials.

Pasquale said that during the investigation into the case, the Australian Federal Police had requested the assistance of Malaysian authorities.

The case was revealed after an eight-month investigation by Australian newspapers The Age and SMH.

Dudley House is a student dormitory located in the East Caulfield suburb of Melbourne used by Monash University students.

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