Subpoenaed but sent home: Ex-auditor-general disputes Tabung Haji RCI account

 

Former auditor-general Madinah Mohamad has claimed that she attended the royal commission of inquiry proceedings into Lembaga Tabung Haji after receiving a subpoena, only to be told to go home without being called to give evidence.

Speaking to Berita Harian, Madinah said she had never asked to enter the RCI proceedings room together with then National Audit Department Financial Audit Division deputy director Mona Othman.

Instead, she said Mona had accompanied her outside the proceedings room to “stand by” in case the panel required any additional technical information.

Madinah was responding to Tabung Haji chairperson Abdul Rashid Hussain, who was a member of the RCI. She described his account of what happened as inaccurate.

“The statement is inaccurate because I never asked to attend the proceedings room with Mona. Instead, Mona was only ‘standing by’ outside in case there were questions of a technical nature,” she said.

“If it was true that Mona could not be brought into the room, why wasn’t I informed, and why was I simply told to go home? When I asked why, (the official) said they were not sure,” she added.

Witnesses examined one-on-one

Yesterday, Rashid challenged Madinah’s earlier claim that the RCI had never summoned her to testify, saying she had in fact been subpoenaed but had asked to attend the proceedings with Mona, a request the commission rejected.

“During RCI proceedings, we examine witnesses on a one-to-one basis. So we did not allow her (to testify with Mona),” he said.

Abdul Rashid Hussain

Rashid also said the RCI had given Madinah the opportunity to provide written responses to 75 questions from the commission, which she submitted in the form of a statutory declaration.

However, Madinah told Berita Harian that she had received a subpoena to give evidence before the RCI members and, on that basis, attended the proceedings on June 3, 2022.

On the RCI’s offer for her to answer 75 questions in writing, Madinah stressed that written responses could not substitute for oral testimony.

“I did submit an affidavit, but it cannot replace oral submissions. They need to hear what I have to say,” she said.

‘Not evidence of failure’

Madinah had previously said that the RM4.8 billion difference between the department’s findings and PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) valuation of Tabung Haji should not be construed as evidence of a failure by the National Audit Department.

She said the discrepancy had to be viewed in the context of differences in mandate, scope, reference periods, and valuation methodologies.

According to Madinah, the differing figures did not mean the department had overlooked losses or that PwC had overvalued them. Rather, different figures could arise when different valuation bases were applied.

She said the department had conducted its audit based on its statutory mandate, as well as the laws and accounting standards in force when the financial statements were prepared.

“For this reason, it is not appropriate to immediately conclude that the difference undermines the credibility of the department or that all audits conducted by the department over the years should be questioned.

“Audit work must be assessed based on the laws, mandate, and standards in force at the time it was carried out. It is inappropriate to assess past audits using standards or approaches that emerged later,” she said.

Madinah had also previously claimed that she was denied the opportunity to be heard despite being ready to face the RCI panel.

She said she had already arrived at the venue where the proceedings were being held and waited for more than 30 minutes, but her name was never called. - Mkini