A FORMER minister has been remanded for five days to assist investigations into the hotel lease issue related to Tabung Haji (TH) in Saudi Arabia.
The remand order, which ends this Sunday, was issued by Magistrate Ezrene Zakariah following an application by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
The former Member of Parliament was arrested after appearing to give a statement at the MACC Headquarters on Tuesday.
The case is being investigated under Section 16(a)(A) of the MACC Act 2009.
It was earlier reported that the detention followed a series of arrests involving former senior TH officials and corporate figures over issues raised in the RCI report.
A former TH chairman and a former Treasury secretary-general were remanded for seven days on August 27 to assist investigations into issues related to the report.
Both were released yesterday after investigators finished recording their statements.
A former TH chief executive officer was also previously remanded, while seven others, including four former TH senior management members and three corporate figures, were detained in separate investigations.
The RCI report, completed in 2022 after an examination of TH's management and operations between 2014 and 2020, was declassified and made public on July 29, four years after the commission completed its work.
The RCI found serious weaknesses in TH's governance, financial management and investment decisions. Among other things, it found that TH should have recorded a net loss of RM1.4 billion in 2017, instead of the reported profit of RM3.4 billion, and that hibah was paid between 2014 and 2017 even though liabilities exceeded assets.
The report also raised concerns about risky investments, excessive bonuses, conflicts of interest and weak disciplinary action against senior officials.
The RCI made 25 key recommendations including a major governance overhaul, stricter board appointment criteria, barring active politicians from the board, forensic audits of dubious investments and a clearer separation of responsibilities for hajj affairs and financial management.
The MACC has since said it is considering appointing external forensic experts to assist in examining documents and other evidence. – September 2, 2026
