KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 27 ― Lembaga Tabung Haji (LTH) chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim said today he is mulling the possibility of taking legal action against the individual responsible for leaking a confidential letter from Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) that was sent to him last year.
He said he was not sure how the letter, which contained the bank’s warning to LTH on the state of the fund’s reserves, could have been leaked.
“The letter was addressed to me and was in my possession. I have already replied to the letter a month ago. I do not know how a letter in my possession can be leaked,” the Baling MP told reporters during a press conference outside the Parliament lobby today.
Abdul Azeez said he will be discussing the matter with his lawyer and may press charges against those responsible.
“I will take legal action against whoever released the BNM letter irresponsibly,” he said.
LTH told its 8.8 million depositors yesterday that they need not worry about the state of its reserves, although it admitted to receiving a warning letter from BNM that claimed its liabilities outweighed its assets.
In a press statement, LTH’s group director and chief executive officer Tan Sri Ismee Ismail said BNM had not accounted for the fund’s investment portfolios such as its subsidiaries, plantation assets and properties in its letter.
Ismee also assured depositors that the dividend and bonus payouts will be made during the first quarter of the year without any delay.
Copies of two letters purportedly issued by the central bank stating that the board’s reserves was in negative surfaced on the Internet yesterday.
The letter to Tabung Haji, among others, said that Section 22 of the board’s act did not warrant it to announce dividends and bonuses if its assets are lesser than its obligations.
Another letter to Minister in the Prime Minister’s department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom was to inform the minister in charge of Muslim affairs of the financial implications the matter would have on the government because deposits from the board were wholly guaranteed by Putrajaya.
