KUALA LUMPUR: No evidence of direct theft in Lembaga Tabung Haji was found when the Auditor-General’s 2017 Report was prepared, says former auditor-general Tan Sri Dr Madinah Mohamad.
Madinah, who served as auditor-general from 2017 to 2019, said if there had been evidence of theft, she and her team would have focused on it and reported it to the authorities.
“I did not see any evidence of such theft when I was auditor-general,” she said at the Musyawarah Nasional 2.0 forum themed “Reality and Perception: Do Not Politicise Tabung Haji”.
Her remarks came after the 211-page RCI report criticised the lack of firmness on the part of the auditor-general in relation to TH’s financial statements.
Madinah said she would have explained the basis of the audit decisions if she had been called before the RCI.
“I was already there on the appointed day and at the scheduled time. I waited for more than 30 minutes but unfortunately, I was not called,” she said.
Madinah also told the forum that the RCI might have reached different findings had she been called to testify.
She said that different audit methodologies were the reason for the RM4.8bil gap between TH’s reported profit and its financial position review.
TH’s audited financial statements by the National Audit Department showed a net profit of about RM3.4bil, but PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) financial position review reported a deficit or loss of about RM1.4bil.
The difference should not be interpreted as evidence that the department’s audit had failed to detect issues with TH’s finances, she said, adding that the reports had different mandates, objectives, scopes and methodologies.
Madinah said the department conducted TH’s statutory audit under the Audit Act 1957 and Tabung Haji Act 1995, while PwC’s review was a special assignment based on different terms of reference and took a broader approach in assessing TH’s financial position.
She said the difference also involved the recognition of asset impairment and the valuation of investments, including those involving TH’s subsidiaries and associates.
She also said documents submitted to the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) showed differing professional views over the use of Financial Reporting Standards Implementation Committee (FRSIC) Consensus 14 in assessing TH’s 2017 financial position.
“The issue is not whether FRSIC Consensus 14 existed, but whether its use was the only acceptable interpretation in the context of a statutory body such as TH,” she added.
