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Saturday, May 9, 2015

On Najib’s advice, Tabung Haji to sell land bought from 1MDB, says chairman

Lembaga Tabung Haji chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim is confident of making a profit of RM5 million from the resale of the parcel of land which was purchased from 1MDB last month. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Seth Akmal, May 9, 2015.Lembaga Tabung Haji chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim is confident of making a profit of RM5 million from the resale of the parcel of land which was purchased from 1MDB last month. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Seth Akmal, May 9, 2015.Under fire in the past few days over a deal with debt-ridden 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), pilgrims' fund Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) has decided to sell the land it bought from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) for RM188.5 million last month, its chairman said today.
Tabung Haji chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim said that the fund has been advised by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak to sell the land at the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) project in order to respect the "sensitivity" of Tabung Haji depositors.
Azeez said Najib had advised him to dispose of the land so that the fund's reputation is not "tarnished" due to its business transaction with 1MDB.
Najib is also Finance Minister and chairman of 1MDB's advisory board.
"We want to respect the concerns of the taxi drivers and those at villages who are worried about their deposit money," Azeez said today.
He still defended the purchase, however, saying Tabung Haji stood to make an annual return of 9%.
The fund bought the land with the view of developing a residential tower that could have yielded a profit of RM180 million within three years, he said.
"We will find another land to invest in. This proves that this plot of land is not difficult to sell. We only held the title for a month and it is still profitable for us," he said, adding that there were three potential buyers that were being considered by the Tabung Haji board of directors.
He rejected notions that the purchase from the troubled state owned strategic investment arm was a form of "bailout".
"The chief financial officer (CFO) will make an announcement once the money is in Tabung Haji's accounts," Azeez said.
"If we wait longer we could reap more profits, but we want to get this matter over as soon as possible," he added.
He stressed that none of the depositors' money was used to buy the plot of land from 1MDB.
"I guarantee here that none of the money that was saved by people to make their pilgrimage, was used. We have a ready allocation set aside to invest in real estate and we used that allocation," he added.
He defended the decision of the Tabung Haji board in making the purchase, saying that they did "no wrong" and it was merely a "commercial decision".
"We have dignity too. The people who sit (on Tabung Haji) board have vast experience. Anyone who needs answers on this matter, we will provide them," he added.
Azeez said that the working paper for the land purchase was first presented to them in April 2013, and the board took two years and plenty of due process before approving the purchase.
"We welcome any investigations on this matter. This was a purely commercial decision," he said.
A blog called "The Benchmark" on May 6 leaked documents that detailed Tabung Haji's plans to buy two plots of land from 1MDB at the site of the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) project.
The RM188.5 million purchase for a 0.63ha plot of land has been confirmed, drawing outcry from fund depositors and political leaders from both sides of the divide, given that 1MDB is known to be sitting on a pile of RM42 billion in debts.
- TMI

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