Shipping firm CEO, 6 others held in MACC probe linked to Tabung Haji

Seven individuals, including a shipping firm CEO known as Datuk, have been apprehended by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in connection with the Tabung Haji (TH) royal commission of inquiry (RCI) probe. The CEO, in his sixties, is accused of submitting false documents when making payments to TH, according to a MACC source. Additionally, a company director, another Datuk, four former senior TH management personnel, and two other suspects in their sixties were also detained.

The two detained individuals in their sixties are alleged to have deceived TH officers into investing in a construction company by promising its potential listing on Bursa Malaysia. Meanwhile, the four former senior TH management officials, aged between fifty and sixty, face charges of corrupt practices. TH entered into a lease agreement for four hotels in Saudi Arabia worth 2.49 billion Saudi riyal (RM2.72 billion), resulting in financial losses to the organization.

The source revealed that only the shipping company CEO and the Datuk, who serves as a director of the construction company, have been remanded, while the remaining five suspects were released on MACC bail due to health concerns.

The two suspects were remanded for five days until August 19, following a Putrajaya magistrate's order. MACC chief commissioner Abd Halim Aman confirmed the arrests, stating that the case is being investigated under Sections 18 and 16(a)(A) of the MACC Act 2009. In August, religious minister Zulkifli Hassan had revealed that TH leased four hotels in Makkah and Madinah between 2015 and 2017, paying roughly RM1.55 billion upfront to Al-Rawda Real Estates Development & Project Management Co Ltd for a 10-18 year lease.

However, TH ceased receiving rental income from the firm in March 2019, leading to enforcement proceedings against Al-Rawda in Saudi Arabia.