In what was promised to be a series of exposé on Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH), PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli today claimed that the pilgrimage fund had lost millions of ringgit from its investments in a bread-manufacturing business in 2007.

Speaking at a press conference at PKR headquarters in Petaling Jaya, Rafizi questioned what he described as a poor decision by TH to invest in the Silverbird Group, now a part of the Hi-5 Conglomerate.

"In a period of one month between September and October 2007, Tabung Haji had aggressively bought shares in the company, investing RM98 million and raising its share per unit from 39 sen to RM1.09 on Oct 16, 2007,” he said.

According to the company's annual report which Rafizi provided to the media, TH emerged as its largest shareholder as of Oct 31, 2007, with over 90 million shares or 28.81% stake.

"However, the company ran into trouble and TH had incurred accumulated losses of RM44 million as of Oct 31, 2011," he said, adding that Silverbird was eventually suspended by Bursa Malaysia later the same year.

"When the company was re-listed (as Hi-5 Conglomerate), the price of its shares did not recover," said Rafizi who attributed the situation to alleged financial mismanagement that made it impossible for TH to even recoup its initial investments.

Hi-5 Conglomerate's shares are currently only evaluated at RM0.04.

Despite the falling share prices, Rafizi said that TH had held on to its stakes until the middle of 2014, only selling it off as the company was no longer recognised by Bursa as a syariah-compliant security due to its debts being higher than its assets.

"This in a way gives you an idea that if Tabung Haji had done its due diligence, you would have been careful because your due diligence would have highlighted the possibility of this. Clearly, this was not done," he said.

The Pandan MP also noted that when TH had sold off all of its shares in mid-2014, the shares were priced between seven sen and eight sen.

Stressing that TH must be accountable for its investments, Rafizi urged TH chief executive officer Ismee Ismail to explain the reasons behind the initial investments in Silverbird.

Malaysiakini has contacted Tabung Haji for response on the matter.