THE Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) claims that the Tabung Haji scandal has exposed the existence of an elite group operating in a network of shared interests and protected by political powers, allowing the institution's funds to be mismanaged.
Its president, Mohideen Abdul Kader, said the revelations of the declassified Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report did not merely show administrative failures or weak investment strategies, but rather exposed what he described as a systematic and planned criminal breach of trust.
He claimed that the losses that brought Tabung Haji to the brink of systemic collapse of RM13 billion should not only be seen from the perspective of the individuals targeted, but rather the bigger question was who built, operated and protected the network that allowed this to happen.
“Tabung Haji was created as a noble development institution to manage the savings of ordinary people who are striving to perform the Hajj pilgrimage.
“Impeding the financial integrity of this institution, manipulating the balance sheet through ‘creative accounting’, paying illegal dividends when liabilities far outweighed assets and channelling billions of ringgit through toxic middlemen transactions is a moral violation,” he said in a statement today.
He said the group was described as the “Malaysian Epstein Class”, an elite group that allegedly used its position and influence to operate without fear of the law, oversight and moral values.
“This group is not a misguided entity. It is an enabling syndicate that cuts across every layer of professional and public oversight, including scholars and religious administrators, legal experts and accountants, regulators and government officials and the powerful political class at the time.
“Scholars and religious administrators are alleged to have provided a layer of legitimacy and spiritual protection, while legal experts and accountants are alleged to have helped shape middlemen transactions and opaque financial structures to hide the true financial position.
“Regulators and government officials are alleged to have turned a blind eye, delayed action or approved risky investments without due diligence, while the political elite at the time are alleged to have treated public trust as a source of patronage, partisan politics and elite enrichment,” he alleged.
Mohideen said that all government and opposition members of Parliament must issue a joint condemnation of those who failed to carry out their fiduciary responsibilities.
He said that the government must also ensure that no party involved escapes legal action, including every individual who is alleged to be the architect, organiser, accountant who approved the transactions and political operators.
He stressed that the Royal Malaysian Police, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Attorney General’s Chambers must track down all parties involved in addition to seizing illegal profits, depriving titles and punishing them according to the provisions of the law.
“When the elite believe that wearing a suit, holding a title or hiding behind religious righteousness makes them immune from the law, the social contract will collapse.
“Tabung Haji belongs to the ummah and the people of Malaysia, not any political group.
“If we fail to dismantle this network of immunity from punishment today, we are opening the way for other sacred institutions to be plundered in the future,” he said. – August 17, 2026
