Henry Butcher Malaysia Sdn Bhd senior property valuer Long Tian Chek, 54, testified yesterday that he valued the property as at May 14, 2007.
“I was instructed by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission on July 31, 2009, to evaluate two plots of land as at 2007,” he said during the examination-in-chief by Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar.
Trial ongoing: Dr Khir and Zahrah outside the High Court in Shah Alam yesterday.
He added that the land, owned by Dr Khir and his wife Zahrah Kechik, came with a two-storey bungalow, a pool, a gazebo and a car porch.
Long said he put the market value for the land at RM2.35mil and the building at RM3.2mil, adding that he based this on existing evaluation reports, site visits, the neighbourhood and by comparing other houses in the area.
Dr Mohd Khir, 45, is charged with knowingly purchasing the property at a lower price than its original value from Ditamas Sdn Bhd director Shamsuddin Hayroni, who bought the two plots of land and the bungalow for RM6.5mil in 2004.
He is alleged to have committed the offence at the Mentri Besar's official residence on May 29, 2007.
Selangor Valuation and Property Services Department assistant valuation officer Noor Faiza Zainuddin, 48, said she put the vacant plot at RM918,000 and the other with the bungalow at RM3.9mil.
She said the department received an order from the Inland Revenue Board in July 2007 to evaluate the property for stamp duty when Shamsuddin wanted to sell it at RM1.3mil below the price she had estimated.
Noor Faiza added that Shamsuddin told her during a site visit on Aug 3, 2007, that he was forced to sell below the valuation price due to “problems”.
“When I went there, I saw that the bungalow was being renovated. It was standard practice in my office to ask why a property was being sold at a lower price.
“He told me he was going through some problems and had to let the property go,” she said, adding that she did not ask further about Shamsuddin's “problems”.
To a question by Mohd Dusuki, Noor Faiza said she did not factor in the renovation in her report as she was required to value it as at May 2007.
“So I used the original house plan,” she said.
Earlier, lawyer Doris Getrude Mayappen, 45, who represented Shamsuddin during a sale and purchase agreement for the property signed on May 29, 2007, said it was sold to Dr Khir and his wife for RM3.5mil.
Lawyer Ragunath Kesavan, 49, who represented original owner Saiful Aznir Shahabudin in another agreement, said it was sold at RM6.5mil.
Source : The Star
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