KUALA LUMPUR: Former Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Rahim has denied allegations that its previous management had breached the Tabung Haji Act 1995 in distributing hibah (dividends).
He said based on the valuation reports on all assets which can be realised from Ernst & Young for 2015, 2016 and 2017, the value of assets owned by TH was greater than the liabilities.
Azeez said in 2015, the value of assets which can be realised was RM64.7 billion compared with liabilities and hibah payments totalling RM63.3 billion, an asset surplus of RM1.4 billion, while in 2016, assets totalled RM69.1 billion against liabilities and hibah payments of RM63.3 billion, a surplus of RM1.4 billion.
“In 2017, value of assets which can be realised was RM74.7 billion compared with aggregate liabilities including hibah payments totalling RM74.4 billion, which means TH had a surplus of RM373 million.
“This proves that the previous management of TH had paid hibah according to the TH Act, but the current government did not take into account EY’s reports when they made their disclosure yesterday,” he told reporters at the lobby of Parliament here today.
Azeez said the reports and the position of TH was also examined by the National Audit Department which gave it a clean chit every year.
“If there are any differences in the views and interpretation of the accounting basis on the asset valuation between EY and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the final conclusive report is the National Audit Department’s verification,” he said.
Yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Dr Mujahid Yusof said the previous TH management had breached the Tabung Haji Act 1995 which state that two conditions must be fulfilled before hibah can be paid out, namely assets must not be less than liabilities and there must be profit available for distribution.
The minister said that hibah payments had been made since 2014 without fulfilling the two criteria. — Bernama
