The first hard evidence has emerged of Australian property prices being inflated as real estate is used as a safe haven or money laundering hub by corrupt foreign nationals.
The alleged criminal conduct is linked to multimillion-dollar property transactions which drove a group of small Australian tradesmen to the wall and which implicates top Malaysian officials and businessmen.
Fairfax Media can reveal that a group of super-rich Malaysian officials, spending their own government's investment funds, have bid up the price of a Melbourne apartment block from $17.8 million to $22.5 million. The extra $4.75 million was then laundered out of Australia and allegedly paid as bribes in Malaysia.
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Despite the huge amounts involved, about 150 Australian creditors, including Melbourne tradesman John Bond and several other builders, have been left out of pocket or are facing bankruptcy after a company linked to the deal collapsed.
"This deal has ripped off Australians and involve serious corruption but no one has been held to account," Mr Bond told Fairfax Media.