Ex-CFO questioned for six hours in Tabung Haji graft probe

The investigation into Tabung Haji's management has entered a new phase. On Tuesday, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission arrested a 60-year-old former chief financial officer and a 68-year-old former chief executive officer at its Putrajaya headquarters after they arrived to give statements at 6:30 that evening. Both men, who had worked for the statutory body, were released the same night citing health concerns.

The following day, only the former CFO returned to the MACC office to continue his account. He spent more than six hours there providing additional statements. The former CEO did not appear, again citing health issues. Their interrogation is part of a widening investigation triggered by a Royal Commission of Inquiry report released on July 29 that examined Tabung Haji's operations between 2014 and 2020. The RCI identified what it characterized as problematic investments and recommended a forensic audit to understand how past decisions had led to severe asset impairment.

The two executives are being investigated under Section 23 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act for alleged abuse of power. Specifically, authorities are looking into their role in the acquisition of shares in two plantation companies valued at approximately RM370 million. They were among five people detained as the investigation accelerated following the RCI's public findings.

In a separate but related matter, three men in their 50s were arrested on Tuesday evening and remanded for five days until August 9. A deputy general manager for construction, an occupational safety and health manager, and a project director at a property company subsidiary of the same statutory body face allegations of misappropriating roughly RM450,000 in penalty charges. Initial findings suggest they conspired in this misappropriation between 2017 and 2019. These three are being investigated under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act.

The arrests represent an expansion of enforcement action. Earlier, two other men—a company director and a former estate manager of a rubber seedling supply company, both in their 50s—had been detained separately in connection with allegations of bribery and contract misappropriation tied to the RCI findings. Police have received nine reports related to the inquiry and opened five investigation papers.

The MACC chief commissioner, Datuk Seri Abd Halim Aman, confirmed the arrests and remand orders. To manage the scope of the inquiry, the commission has deployed eight investigating officers directly to Tabung Haji's headquarters. A special task force was established specifically to review and examine the RCI's findings, signaling that authorities view the issues identified in the report as serious enough to warrant sustained, dedicated scrutiny. The forensic audit recommended by the RCI remains pending, and it will likely form a critical part of understanding the full scope of the financial irregularities the investigation is now pursuing.