Tabung Haji deposits up by RM1b last year, says CEO

Amid concerns over alleged mismanagement, Lembaga Tabung Haji today said that it has recorded an increase of nearly RM1 billion in deposits as of last December.

According to Tabung Haji CEO Zukri Samat, this improved performance was in contrast to the RM4.1 billion deficit it recorded at the end of the 2017 financial year.

"It is true there was a depositor who withdrew RM10 million from their account recently, but there were also (new) depositors.

"This (improvement) could be seen in a deposit increase of almost RM1 billion in deposits last year," said Zukri during a press briefing on the pilgrimage fund's current status, held at Menara Tabung Haji in Kuala Lumpur today.

"A total of 31,580 new depositors accounts were opened.

"We also did not see a large wave of withdrawals from depositors, including when issues surrounding Tabung Haji was widely debated," he said.

Commenting further, Zukri said Tabung Haji does not wish to speculate on whether more withdrawals would be recorded in the future, as the possibility remains that there could be depositors unhappy with the yet to be announced dividend (hibah) rate.

"But looking at the current situation faced by Tabung Haji, I hope that depositors will continue to have confidence in us.

"With the ongoing rehabilitation plan, Tabung Haji will record an even better performance this year," he said.

Last December, independent audit firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC)'s review of Tabung Haji's financial position found that it had effectively paid dividends using depositor's savings.

On the same day, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mujahid Yusof Rawa, who is in charge of Islamic Affairs, confirmed that Tabung Haji had been in deficit since 2014 but continued to issue dividends, in violation of the Tabung Haji Act 1995. - Mkini