PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli today said that Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) must convince depositors of its ability to eventually profit from current investments in a loss-making upstream engineering company TH Heavy Engineering (THHE) Bhd.

Speaking at a press conference at PKR headquarters in Petaling Jaya, Rafizi said TH could no longer insist that the company was just another of its “long-term strategic investment”.

“It is high time Tabung Haji let the public know what are its plans for the company. You are stuck and our money is stuck with you.

“You know that the next five to eight years will be very difficult for the oil and gas industry. You also know in all probability that you will need to pump in more money into the company,” he said, adding that it would be very difficult for TH to justify its current hold on the company.

This, he claimed, was because TH still failed to profit when it first acquired Ramunia Holdings at a time when oil prices were at an all-time high.

Rafizi said TH had first acquired its stake in the company in early 2008 through Ramunia Holdings Bhd, eventually emerging as its largest shareholder with 29.68 percent stake as of Feb 29, 2009.

Based on Ramunia Holdings' share prices, Rafizi said he estimated that TH had invested about RM250 million for its initial investment to acquire more than 166 million shares.

The company was eventually suspended from Bursa Malaysia before it underwent a restructuring exercise, with TH remaining as the largest stakeholder, and re-listed in 2013 as THHE.

On the status of TH’s current investments, Rafizi cited a risk analysis report that stated the pilgrimage fund currently risked losing about RM1.4 billion if THHE failed to deliver on its obligations.

A large portion of the RM1.4 billion is in the form of a corporate guarantee from TH to THHE.

He also claimed the risk analysis report was leaked around the time Bank Negara had issued an advisory notice to TH, stating that THHE is currently recording paper losses of around RM200 million.

Reiterating his call for the resignation of TH’s top officials, Rafizi said: "By now, they should know I wouldn’t have gone this far if I have not done my homework.

"I have been looking at TH for two years, but this is the first time Muslims will start to wonder whether this narrative about TH so far – about how it has been managed – has been turned upside down."

Malaysiakini has contacted Tabung Haji for its response on the matter.