(June 25): Australian authorities have launched several raids in Melbourne following an expose by The Age over Majlis Amanah Rakyat's (Mara) controversial  purchase of a Melbourne property, reports the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH).

The report said the Australian Federal Police seized computers and files from a Vermont South home this morning and more raids were to be followed.

The investigation, codenamed Operation Carambola, was started after Australian newspaper The Age reported that a “top” Mara officer, senior official and former politician had allegedly spent millions of government funds to buy an apartment block in Melbourne in a property scam.

The report alleged that “a group of super-rich Malaysian officials” overpaid by A$4.75 million (RM13.8 million) for an 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, with the difference pocketed as bribes back home.

The SMH report today said that this was the first time that authorities have launched a large scale operation despite the fact that similar allegations over property purchases by foreigners have interested politicians in Australia.

Quoting property records and confidential emails, the report said that the Malaysians involved in the deal had demanded a A$4.75 million bribe for guaranteeing that Malaysian government would pay for the building.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said on Tuesday that the claims by The Age will be thoroughly investigated.

"The authorities here will conduct comprehensive investigations into the claims, and if any wrongdoing is found, action will be taken," he said in a statement on his Facebook and Twitter sites.

Yesterday, Mara chairman Tan Sri Annuar Musa said that Najib was involved in approving its purchase of the Melbourne property.

He said that the purchase of any property by the council had to go through procedures, including a final approval by the Finance Ministry or the Economic Council (EC).

Najib is finance minister and chairs the EC.

Refuting this, Najib said yesterday that the Australian property buy was decided by consensus, claiming that some media organisations had purportedly twisted Annuar's remarks.

"The decision is made based on consensus by the economic council," Najib posted on his Twitter account.

The Age said that Australian developers of the property received sham invoices for fake services, such as “consultancy and advisory”, from Malaysian firms.

An Australian creditor, who is facing bankruptcy after the deal collapsed, tradesman John Bond told The Age: "This deal has ripped off Australians and involves serious corruption but no one has been held to account." – The Malaysian Insider