The RM60 million mansion in Perth, Australia was first alleged as belonging to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi by his predecessor Dr Mahathir Mohamad in a talk held in Johor last month.

Pictures of the bay view mansion in Mosman Park being under extensive renovation works soon surfaced on the Internet and speculations became rife.

Yesterday, Mahathir expressed regret for citing rumours that he heard after it was established that the house did not belong to Abdullah.

During a press conference at the Perdana Leadership Foundation after delivering his keynote speech at the Sixth Perdana Discourse Series, he apologised for making the statement "which has been proven wrong".

"Well, I shouldn't (have made) that statement because I was stating something based on rumours I heard the rumours repeatedly and said that the house belongs to him (Abdullah).

"And then of course you know, when you are carried away after giving a speech like that, you don't censor yourself and you are not too careful about what you say, so I said it.

"I'm sorry that I said something that was wrong," Mahathir added.

He then said he was grateful that people have actually paid attention to his allegations and decided to investigate the matter further.

Mahathir may have apologised for his mistake but the mansion's link to Abdullah and his family continues to be speculated.

Could Khairy be wrong too?

Initially, the owner of the Perth mansion was disputed as being Abdullah until Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin clarified that the house belonged to Abdullah's son and prominent businessman Kamaludin ( left ) instead.

"Maybe it (the price) does not reach RM60 million ... maybe it is lower than that," he told malaysiakini when met at the sidelines of the Machap by-election in Malacca two weeks ago.

A few days later, documents pertaining to the property's title deed turned up to reveal that the house was registered under one Wong Mun Yee, also known as Cindy Lim, the wife of businessman Patrick Lim.

It stated that the house registered in March 11, 2004 was mortgaged to the National Australia Bank.

Minutes of the Mosman Park Town Council meeting in Feb 22, 2005 discussing the mansion's alterations under Wong's name were also disclosed online.

Her husband Lim ( right ), 40 - popularly known as ' Patrick Badawi ', a name coined by Mahathir - is a business partner and close friend of Khairy.

Allegedly to be 'ruling' the state of Terengganu with Khairy, certain quarters have claimed that Lim was given the 'sole monopoly' of all state tourism projects.

This includes being tasked with a RM200 million development project at the Heritage Bay Club for the Monsoon Cup, an annual sailboat race conceived by Abdullah and held in Terengganu's Pulau Duyong.

Projects worth millions

He also has three major projects in his home state of Penang. They include the development of the second Penang bridge and a housing-cum-commercial complex known as Crescentia Park.

Crescentia Park will be developed as Penang's third satellite city and is expected to be completed by 2015. It covers an area of 450 acres.

The gross development value (GDV) and development cost are estimated at RM860 million and RM636 million respectively.

Lim has also obtained the right to design and reconstruct the 260-hectare Penang Turf Club in Bukit Gantong at an estimated cost of RM375 million.

Malaysian Business in January also reported that 'one company that is set to benefit significantly from (Abdullah's Ninth Malaysia Plan) is property developer Equine Capital Bhd' after several major projects in Penang were awarded to the company.

Meanwhile, in the Klang Valley, Equine still has another RM300 million to RM400 million worth of projects to be launched before the completion of its four flagship developments in Seri Kembangan.

Equine's four developments in the area, comprising Equine Park, Putra Permai, Pusat Bandar Putra Permai and Permai Park, are being undertaken on 812 acres.