LEMBAGA Tabung Haji has lodged police reports against its former chairman Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, two of its former CEOs and other senior management staff.

The fund for Muslim pilgrims said the first report was over a Yayasan Tabung Haji programme in 2017 where more than RM22 million had been used for “activities with political inclinations”.

“This contravenes the Memorandum And Articles of Association of YTH,” Tabung Haji said in a press statement.

Azeez had been a trustee of the foundation at the time, and so were Ismee Ismail and Johan Abdullah, who are the fund’s former CEOs.

Other trustees are senior management staff Adi Azuan, who is currently chief operating officer, and Rozaida Omar, the chief financial officer.

The second report was over “misrepresentations and withholding of material information” regarding Tabung Haji’s sale in 2012 of 95% shareholdings in PT TH Indo Plantations, held by its two subsidiaries.

It was lodged against Ismee, legal adviser Hazlina Mohd Khalid and senior corporate service and real estate general-manager Rifina Md Ariff.

The two subsidiaries, TH Indopalms Sdn Bhd (THI) and TH Indo Industries Sdn Bhd (THII), had sold their shareholdings in PT TH Indo Plantations to PT Borneo Pacific (PT Borneo) for US$910 million (RM3.8 billion).

PT TH Indo Plantations owned 83,000ha of palm oil estates in Indonesia, while PT Borneo is an unlisted company controlled by Indonesian businessman Alexander Thaslim.

According to a Reuters report at the time, the deal was one of the largest palm oil asset acquisitions in recent years.

Former chairman Azeez, meanwhile, has been questioned several times by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency in the last few months.

The Baling MP, who is also an Umno Supreme Council member, was remanded for 10 days in connection with raids on three of his properties and RM1.2 million found in foreign currencies which Abdul Azeez claimed belonged to Umno Baling. He was released on RM500,000 bail on October 5

Azeez was again summoned for questioning at the MACC on Tuesday this week, reportedly for a bribery case involving a construction company.

Tabung Haji today said the two reports were lodged today at the Commercial Crime Investigation Department and are the first following internal investigations into past transactions under the funds’ new management which took over in July 2018. – November 30, 2018.