PUTRAJAYA: A former chief financial officer (CFO), who was detained as investigations ramped up following findings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into Tabung Haji, spent more than six hours giving his statements to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
The statement recording session was conducted at the MACC headquarters here yesterday.
This 60-year-old former CFO was arrested on Tuesday along with a 68-year-old former chief executive officer (CEO) after they gave their statements at the MACC headquarters at 6.30pm that day.
Both of them, who were previously with a company owned by a statutory body, were released later that night due to health reasons.
Yesterday, only the former CFO turned up for the statement-giving session, while the former CEO was absent due to health problems.
They were among five more people detained as investigations began into the alleged abuse of power involving the acquisition of shares in two plantation companies worth about RM370mil.
In a related development, three men in their 50s were remanded for five days until Aug 9 for alleged misappropriation of about RM450,000 in notice of penalty charges involving a property company that is a subsidiary of the same statutory body.
They were a deputy general manager for construction, an occupational safety and health manager, and a project director of the property company.
Sources said the men were arrested at 6pm on Tuesday when they turned up to give their statements at the MACC headquarters.
Initial investigations found that they had allegedly conspired in the misappropriation of the penalty charges between 2017 and 2019.
The arrests form part of investigations by a special task force established to review and examine the findings of the RCI into Tabung Haji.
The RCI report was made public through the official portal of the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) on July 29.
When contacted, MACC chief commissioner Datuk Seri Abd Halim Aman confirmed the arrests and remand.
He said the former CEO and CFO are being investigated under Section 23 of the MACC Act for alleged abuse of power, while the three other suspects are being investigated under Section 17(a) of the same Act.
It was previously reported that two men had been remanded in separate investigations linked to the findings of the RCI into Tabung Haji involving allegations of bribery and the misappropriation of contracts.
The suspects – a company director and a former estate manager of a rubber seedling supply company, both in their 50s – were detained separately on Monday after they turned up to give their statements at the MACC.
Police also received nine reports in connection with the RCI findings and have opened five investigation papers.
MACC has deployed eight investigating officers to the Lembaga Tabung Haji headquarters to begin investigations into the RCI findings.
The RCI had recommended that a forensic audit be conducted to examine how past investment decisions were made, resulting in the severe impairment of Lembaga Tabung Haji’s assets.
The report, which investigated Lembaga Tabung Haji’s management and operations from 2014 to 2020, also identified problematic investments that require forensic auditing.
