KUALA LUMPUR: Two former Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) top executives have pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court here to a charge of cheating the institution’s board members over a proposal to readjust property investment values linked to a RM3.3bil hibah payment.
Former chief financial officer Datuk Rozaida Omar, 63, and former chief executive officer Datuk Seri Johan Abdullah, 70, claimed trial after the charge was read out to them before judge Norma Ismail on Thursday (Oct 22).
The two were jointly charged with cheating the board members by preparing and presenting a working paper containing a proposal to readjust the values of three properties — TH Platinum Park, TH Perdana and TH Selborne.
According to the charge, the readjustment was made to increase TH’s profit in its pre-audited financial report for the year ended Dec 31, 2017, for the purpose of paying RM3.3bil in hibah to depositors.
Rozaida and Johan allegedly knew that the properties should have been valued lower based on market values.
Their alleged deception caused the board members to approve the working paper, including the readjustment of the property values.
The offence was allegedly committed at Menara TH Tun Razak in Jalan Tun Razak here between 3pm and 10.30pm on Feb 9, 2018.
They were charged under Section 417 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34, which provides for a maximum of five years’ imprisonment or a fine, or both, upon conviction.
The court allowed bail of RM60,000 in one surety each and fixed Dec 8 for mention.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Datuk Nazran Mohd Sham, Rohaiza Abd Rahman and Siti Aina Rodhiah Md Shikh appeared for the prosecution.
Rozaida was represented by lawyer Shamsul Sulaiman, while Johan was represented by Datuk Shukri Mohamed and Malissa Shukri.
