PMO: Tabung Haji remains under purview of PM's Dept

PUTRAJAYA: The Prime Minister’s Office has come out to clarify the status of Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH), saying that the board remains under the purview of the Prime Minister’s Department.

"TH remains under the Prime Minister's Department and this has not changed with the introduction of a special purpose vehicle as agreed by the Cabinet," said the PMO.

It also said claims that TH was under the Finance Ministry were false and baseless.

It said that talk that TH had been "transferred" to the Finance Ministry came about after the Cabinet decided to move underperforming equities to a government-owned special purpose vehicle (SPV).

"The move is among initiatives to restore TH's financial standing and to expedite recovery following the discovery of mass misappropriation," the PMO said in a statement on Monday (Feb 25).

TH is also placed under the supervision of Bank Negara.

"Allegations that TH has been transferred to the Finance Ministry are not true and completely baseless," said the PMO.

In December last year, TH revealed that the SPV would be acquiring the pilgrim fund's underperforming properties and equities in exchange for RM10bil in sukuk and RM9.9bil in Islamic Redeemable Convertible Preference Shares.