LARGE bonuses of between RM250,000 and RM400,000 a year were paid to the management and senior officers at the Malaysian Islamic Economic Development Foundation (YaPEIM), a charity trust fund with various investments used to fund orphans’ welfare.

The Malaysian Insight obtained a report on the foundation’s restructuring plan which said directors received RM400,000, senior officers RM250,000, the director-general RM100,000 and others in senior positions RM35,000.

“The director-general and directors of YaPEIM received high salaries and allowances, on top of that, they also received allowances from subsidiaries to which they appointed themselves as directors.

“Each subsidiary paid them allowances of between RM1,500 to RM4,500. YaPEIM has 10 active subsidiaries, which paid out these allowances,” said the report.

The Malaysian Insight is seeking responses from YaPEIM on the report.

The report said YaPEIM is currently undergoing an overhaul of its structure and functions to resolve alleged leakages and misappropriation of funds.

It said the practice of dishing out high bonuses had affected YaPEIM’s financial performance.

Those who benefited from the large bonuses were those in management positions in various departments at the foundation, such as human resources, administration, finance and the director-general’s office.

Other irregularities involved costly travel expenses abroad by the foundation’s top management and director-general.

“As a charity-oriented foundation, it is not appropriate for the management to engage in luxury shopping when making overseas trips without any control and without bringing any returns for YaPEIM.

“Hundreds of thousands of ringgit were spent annually on overseas trips without the approval from the board of trustees,” the report said.

The report also said that high travel claims by the director-general’s office were “hidden” within the accounts of other YaPEIM subsidiaries.

The report called for a more detailed investigation to assess these expenses incurred.

YaPEIM falls under government oversight through a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, normally in charge of Islamic affairs. It is managed by its president, deputy president and a board of trustees whose members are appointed by the minister.

It does not receive government funds but accepts donations and also participates in various economic activities including running supermarkets, gold trading and in real estate with part of the profits used to fund welfare programmes.

Allegations of financial misappropriation were first revealed by the PKR-linked National Oversight and Whistleblowers (NOW), whose director Akmal Nasir is now Johor Baru MB.

Akmal released a series of exposes in late 2015 on various claims of abuse of power and inappropriate spending by those in YaPEIM’s top management.

In December the same year, YaPEIM’s president Awang Malek Awang Kechil and deputy president Siti Zaleha Hussin resigned from their positions.

Among questionable investments noted in the restructuring report, YaPEIM is alleged to have purchased a building in Putrajaya by taking out a loan from Bank Islam that was higher than the value of the property.

Against the advice of its risk and investments committee, it also bought a 60% share in the Aneka Supermarket network at a cost of RM10 million. The committee had considered Aneka a high-risk venture with losses and did not approve the investment.

The report also said YaPEIM channeled RM40 million in grants and loans to one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries between 2012 and 2014 without any details on what the funds would be used for.

“The board of trustees has expressed dissatisfaction with the chairman and wants detailed disclosure on how the grants and loans were used,” the restructuring report states.

“From initial investigations it was found that a lot of money was used by management on overseas trips and to pay for unauthorised expenses incurred on these trips.” – May 11, 2019.