PILGRIM fund Lembaga Tabung Haji’s (LTH) 2018 annual report had already been approved by the Cabinet and was initially slated for tabling in Parliament during the initial March sitting, said former Islamic affairs minister Mujahid Yusof Rawa.
“As we had a restructuring of LTH, the 2018 audited accounts had already been tabled in Cabinet either September or October last year. The report was set to be tabled in Parliament in March this year,” Mujahid told FocusM.
Baling MP Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim raised the matter in his reply to the Agong’s address but the speech served more as a defence of his tenure as LTH chairman from 2013 to 2018, which has come under scrutiny.
Mujahid, who is also Parit Buntar MP, held the Islamic affairs portfolio under then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.
But a coup in February witnessed the ousting of the Mahathir government with Muhyiddin Yassin taking over as prime minister and Perikatan Nasional, a loose pact, forming government instead.
“Now it is with the hands of the new government. They could have tabled it during the one-day session in May. So, I’m eager to see the report on my table,” Mujahid said.
Mujahid said last year that the pilgrim fund registered an RM4.1 bil deficit. The numbers were based on an independent review conducted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
He added that PwC found that LTH had assets of RM70.3 bil as opposed to liability of RM74.4 bil, representing a deficit of RM4.1 bil as of end-2017.
Azeez disputed the figures and cited external auditor Ernst & Young’s (E&Y) review that LTH’s assets should instead stand at RM74.7 bil and its liabilities at RM74.4 bil, thus a surplus of RM373 mil.
But PwC found that there was an RM4.25 bil impairment loss, among others, in its equities portfolio which LTH had hidden through creative accounting.
This led PH to stage an RM19.9 bil rescue plan where LTH’s non-performing assets were transferred to Urusharta Jemaah Sdn Bhd, a special purpose vehicle owned by Minister of Finance Inc.
The PH government had to bear the difference of RM10.3 bil as the assets had a market value of RM9.63 bil. This also allowed LTH to pay hibah (dividend) of 1.25% to its depositors for the 2018 financial year, the lowest ever in the fund’s history.
But ever since Perikatan Nasional (PN) took over government, there had been calls for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the matter. PN consists of Bersatu, Umno, PAS, Gabungan Parti Sarawak and Sabah-based parties.
Mujahid’s successor, Ahmad Marzuk Shaary, told Parliament yesterday that the proposed sales of TH Plantations Bhd, a subsidiary of LTH, to Sabah-based Tamaco Plantations Sdn Bhd was being reviewed. – July 23, 2020
