Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) issued dividends and bonuses to its depositors at the expense of selling off valuable assets overseas, says Parti Amanah Negara deputy president Salahuddin Ayub.

In the wake of concerns raised over its allegedly dwindling reserves, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Jamil Khir Baharom announced yesterday that TH would be paying a dividend of five percent to depositors, as well as a three percent bonus to those who have not performed the Haj.

“In terms of paying higher dividends and bonuses than profits made in one year, Amanah notes that the five percent dividend and three percent bonus were only announced yesterday, after TH had sold off some of its assets in London.

“Valuable assets that all this while have been generating substantial incomes for TH had to be sacrificed in order to fulfil a short-term goal to create a picture that its businesses are still stable and profitable,” Salahuddin said in a statement today.

London’s Financial Times on Feb 1 highlighted a trend of Malaysian investment funds, including Tabung Haji, selling off their prime properties in the city in what it described as a sign of “growing financial woes” at home.

Office building in London sold

It was also reported that TH had, in October last year, sold an office building at Buckingham Palace Road for about 250 million pounds sterling – 22 percent more than what it paid to purchase it two years earlier.

Salahuddin also said the practice of paying higher dividends and bonuses is not a prudent move and will be unsustainable.

“Criticisms by Bank Negara Malaysia on its (TH’s) reserve policies as a whole and risk management practices should be strictly adhered to,” he said in reference to a ‘warning’ letter from the central bank to TH, which had been leaked and circulated online.

Salahuddin also said that paying higher dividends and bonuses to attract depositors would deplete TH’s reserves and affect its long-term sustainability.

As such, he said, Amanah wants the auditor-general, as well as an independent audit firm, to scrutinise TH’s overall investments and business transactions in order to put an end to practices that do not adhere to the highest professional standards.

This, Salahuddin added, is among other measures proposed in order to revamp the overall management of the pilgrimage fund that manages close to RM54 billion in assets and deposits.