A report by independent newszine Asia Sentinel quoted lifestyle magazine Vanity Fair as saying that many wealthy Malaysians are now paying "astronomical prices" to buy properties in London, joining the ranks of shady Russian, Nigerian and Middle Eastern businessmen.
"It may be an indication that some of the country's richest citizens are voting with their money if not their feet in advance of what appears to be a very tight election," said the report.
It also quoted property agent Jones Lang & Wootton as saying that Malaysian buyers accounted for 17 percent of all buyers of new high-end properties in central London last year, almost as many as the locals.
"Identifiable Malaysians figure as buyers of One Hyde Park, the most expensive new building in London overlooking Hyde Park and others probably lie behind the various anonymous offshore companies which figure as owners of most of the owners of apartments ranging in price from US$12 million to US$50 million," it noted.
It added that while the London property market had always attracted money from capital flight as well as from questionable wealth, the buying spree by Malaysians are taking place against a backdrop of a steep decline in the country's trade surplus.
It argued that Malaysia's massive capital outflow has now turned into a "self-reinforcing problem of the interaction of politics and economic", even if it remained an attractive investment destination due to its infrastructure and cheap labour.
"But so long as its own people prefer to look overseas for political reasons the nation's promise cannot be fulfilled," it stressed.
Washington-based financial watchdog Global Financial Integrity (GFI) recently reported that some RM200 billion of 'dirty money' was siphoned out of Malaysia in 2010, putting the country second in Asian and third in the world for global capital flight.
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