Tabung Haji CEO assures depositors their money is safe
POLICE reports lodged against former officials over misuse of funds and misrepresentation of material information have not ‘impacted operationsʼ.
LEMBAGA Tabung Haji (TH) group managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Zukri Samat yesterday assured depositors that their savings are safe.
He said this in response to a query on the impact of recent reports against TH’s former chairman, its former CEOs and senior management staff.
He said the reports had not affected its operations.
“It is business as usual for us. Our depositors should trust that Tabung Haji will ensure that their deposits are secure.”
Last Friday, TH lodged reports with the Commercial Crime Investigation Department here against former chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, former CEOs Tan Sri Ismee Ismail and Datuk Seri Johan Abdullah and four senior management staff.
The senior staff are Datuk Adi Azuan (chief operating officer), Datuk Rozaida Omar (chief financial officer), Hazlina Mohd Khalid (legal adviser) and Rifina Md Ariff (senior general manager, corporate services and real estate).
The first report involved Yayasan Tabung Haji’s (YTH) 2017 Programme, where more than RM22 million worth of funds were alleged to had been disbursed for activities with political inclinations. This contravenes the foundation’s memorandum and articles of association.
The foundation’s trustees at that time were Azeez, Ismee, Johan, Adi and Rozaida.
YTH was set up in 2016 to undertake, among others, humanitarian aid and to contribute to the underprivileged, as well as the poor and needy. TH contributed RM7 million to the programme.
The second report against Ismee, Hazlina and Rifina was related to misrepresentations and withholding of material information involving TH’s 2012 sale of 95 per cent shareholdings in PT TH Indo Plantations held by its two subsidiaries — TH Indopalms Sdn Bhd and TH Indo Industries Sdn Bhd — to PT Borneo Pacific for US$910 million (RM3.8 billion).
The reports were the first following internal investigations into past transactions, spearheaded by the new management, since July.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa on Saturday reiterated that the government would not compromise on action against anyone involved in the embezzlement of TH’s depositors’ money.