Asyraf rejects alleged links to TH’s troubled Al-Rawda investment

Umno secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki has vehemently denied allegations that he had any involvement with the troubled Al-Rawda investment at Tabung Haji (TH), despite being present at a 2017 signing ceremony for the lease agreement. TH's finance minister II Amir Hamzah Azizan revealed that the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) into TH's financial management from 2014 to 2020 found that seven of the pilgrim fund's 14 investments during this period resulted in total losses, with the largest loss being from Al-Rawda, a Saudi Arabia-based property development and project management company.

Asyraf claimed that he was only a representative of the Minister of Religious Affairs at the signing event and that deputy ministers have no authority to interfere in TH's operations or approval processes. He further stated that TH's CEO and management were responsible for the agency's operational matters, while the chairman and board provided oversight, with major policy decisions ultimately made by the religious affairs minister.

This explanation could explain why neither the RCI nor enforcement agencies had ever summoned Asyraf for questioning regarding the Al-Rawda investment.