Former Tabung Haji chairperson Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim has maintained that he had no absolute authority over the pilgrimage fund's operational management, saying he only played a non-executive role during his 2013-2018 tenure.
Azeez stressed that he was not involved in the fund’s daily operations or investment decisions, explaining that all proposals were vetted by Tabung Haji’s management before being served to the board.
“I want to tell everyone today that I was a non-executive chairperson. I did not have any absolute powers over the day-to-day operation.
“I don't even know what is happening at the working level,” he said when interviewed during Umno Online’s “Hitam Putih Kelabu” podcast today.
According to the Baling MP, the board only met once a month to deliberate on papers that covered investment proposals, governance matters, bonus and hibah (dividend) payments, as well as other administrative issues.
"I had no authority to sign cheques or ask people what they were doing. No, no. Everything would only be reported to the board every month," Azeez (above) added.
Jamil backs Azeez
When queried on his working relationship with former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Jamil Khir Baharom, Azeez denied personally seeking approvals from the minister as such engagements were handled entirely by Tabung Haji’s senior management.
Jamil, who also appeared on the podcast, corroborated Azeez's account, saying the CEO, rather than the chairperson, represented Tabung Haji in post-cabinet meetings.
Jamil added that the arrangement was made because administrative and operational matters fell under the CEO's purview.
"The same applied in Parliament. The chairperson did not attend. Only the CEO and senior officers came to answer questions relating to Tabung Haji.
"They would feed information to me, and once we received complete, accurate and verified answers, only then would the ministry respond to questions in Parliament," he explained.
Azeez also claimed that whenever questions relating to Tabung Haji were raised in Parliament, he was asked to temporarily leave the Dewan Rakyat chamber to avoid any perception of a conflict of interest.
‘Creative accounting’ discovered
Yesterday, the government released the full royal commission of inquiry report into Tabung Haji, which found that serious governance failures, political interference and questionable accounting practices had contributed to the fund's financial difficulties between 2014 and 2020.
The report highlighted Tabung Haji management's use of what it described as "creative accounting", where realisable asset values based on subjective estimates were used instead of audited figures to artificially inflate the organisation’s financial position.
The commission found that the creative accounting decision was approved by the Tabung Haji board, which at the time was chaired by Azeez.
The practice was reportedly used to justify higher hibah payments and bonuses that the fund could not afford.
The report was also critical of the involvement of active politicians on the board, and highlighted that some key decisions, such as hibah payouts and haj fees, were driven by political considerations.
At the same time, the RCI also indicated that multiple related police and MACC reports were unresolved as at the time of the inquiry.
Although the report did not provide details on the cases, one of the police reports was against Azeez and others over the alleged misuse of RM22 million for political activities. The funds were meant for Yayasan Tabung Haji.
‘MACC cleared me’
However, Azeez repeatedly denied allegations that he had siphoned the funds, arguing that Tabung Haji’s governance system was too robust to allow such misconduct to occur.
"I, Abdul Azeez Rahim, as Tabung Haji chairperson, swear that I have never siphoned Tabung Haji's money; as has been repeatedly alleged by (former economy minister) Rafizi Ramli and the prime minister himself, who said RM10 billion was siphoned.
"It is impossible for such a prudent and comprehensive system to allow that to happen. How could I have done so? Umno would not siphon (funds)," he said.
Separately, when met on the campaign trail in Negeri Sembilan today, Azeez said he was prepared to be investigated again, while maintaining that he had been cleared of wrongdoing by the MACC.
“I was already cleared by the then-MACC chief commissioner (Azam Baki) in 2021.
“If the media wants to see proof, I can share the official letter which was given to me,” he was quoted as saying by The Star. - Mkini
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