A former chief executive officer of Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) has been remanded for seven days as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) deepens its investigation into financial and operational irregularities highlighted in the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report on the pilgrims’ fund.
Magistrate Ezrene Zakariah granted the remand application at the Putrajaya Magistrates’ Court on Friday morning, ordering the suspect held until August 27.
The former CEO is a prominent corporate figure who has held executive leadership roles in several leading Malaysian corporations.
The arrest marks a major escalation in enforcement actions following the declassification of the long-awaited RCI report. The 252-page document, which examined TH’s operations and management between 2014 and 2020, was made public on July 29 after being submitted to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
The commission's findings exposed severe weaknesses in governance and oversight, detailing how accounting treatments mask underlying financial strain.
The report concluded that Tabung Haji ought to have reported a net loss of RM1.4 billion for the 2017 financial year instead of the RM3.4 billion profit it officially declared, owing largely to unrecognised asset impairments and excessive profit distributions (hibah).
The former CEO is among a growing list of high-ranking individuals targeted in the sweeping probe.
MACC officers previously detained and interviewed seven key figures, including a former shipping company CEO, two corporate directors, and four former senior executives from Tabung Haji's management team.
Investigators are acting under explicit royal instructions. His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, previously decreed that investigations into the commission's revelations must be carried out "until every stone is turned."
Among its 25 key recommendations, the RCI urged legislative amendments to the Tabung Haji Act 1995 to bar active politicians from sitting on the institution's board of directors, establish mandatory professional qualifications for board members, and split oversight responsibilities between the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) and the Minister of Finance.
Separately, anti-graft officers in Penang detained five individuals, including a Datuk who chairs a government agency, over the alleged illegal sale of state-owned land at under-market value, incurring losses estimated at RM1.96 million. MACC Chief Commissioner Datuk Seri Abd Halim Aman confirmed the case is being investigated under Section 23 of the MACC Act 2009 for abuse of power.