Former A-G denies asking to testify before TH RCI with another officer

 Madinah Mohamad says the officer was meant to be on standby outside the proceedings room in case technical questions were asked.

Former auditor-general Madinah Mohamad confirmed answering 75 questions from the RCI through a statutory declaration but says this couldn’t replace oral testimony.

PETALING JAYA:

Former auditor-general (A-G) Madinah Mohamad has denied asking to appear before the Tabung Haji (TH) royal commission of inquiry (RCI) with another audit department officer.

Madinah said that Mona Othman, the financial audit division deputy director at the time, was merely with her outside the proceedings room to be on standby in case additional technical information pertaining to TH was required.

She said RCI member and current TH chairman Abdul Rashid Hussain’s claim was therefore “inaccurate”, Berita Harian reported.

“I never asked to attend proceedings with Mona. She was just meant to be on standby outside in case technical questions were asked.

“I never asked to enter proceedings with Mona. But an officer from the RCI secretariat later told me that I did not have to enter the room and asked me to go home.

“So I appeared because of the subpoena, but I was told to go home without having my statement taken,” she was quoted as saying.

Yesterday, Rashid challenged Madinah’s claim that the RCI never summoned her to testify, saying the commission had in fact served her with a subpoena.

However, he said she asked to attend proceedings with Mona, which the RCI did not allow as it examines witnesses on a one-to-one basis.

Rashid was among six members of the RCI led by former chief justice Raus Sharif.

He said the RCI gave Madinah the opportunity to submit written answers to 75 questions from the commission, which she gave as a statutory declaration.

Madinah, however, argued that the declaration could not replace oral testimony, saying: “They need to hear what I have to say.”

The RCI found that TH concealed its true financial position for years, reporting a RM3.4 billion profit in 2017 when it should have recorded a net loss of RM1.4 billion under the appropriate accounting standards, a difference of nearly RM4.8 billion.

The commission also criticised the national audit department for not conducting stricter audits of TH’s financial statements from 2014 to 2017.

Madinah, who served as A-G from 2017 to 2019, has stood by her audit of TH’s financial statements between 2014 and 2017. - FMT