KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 9 — Former Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim was brought to the magistrate’s court for a remand hearing before facing a corruption charge today.
Datuk Abu Bakar Isa Ramat, Azeez’s lawyer, said the Umno leader was arrested by the Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department yesterday afternoon before being taken to the Dang Wangi police station.
Azeez, a member of Umno’s supreme council, had already been detained by the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission for seven days, which ends today.
He is expected to face several corruption charges in relation to the Royal Commission of Inquiry’s findings that found mismanagement and fraudulent practices among the fund’s top executives.
News reports of Azeez’s arrest by the police yesterday suggested he is being investigated under the Anti Money Laundering Act. The police was granted a two day remand order that ends Friday.
Azeez’s lawyer Datuk Amer Hamzah Arshad was quoted by The Star as saying the remand order was also issued against a former TH group chief executive officer and a former group chief financial officer.
Azeez is among several top executives to have been charged in relation to the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report on Tabung Haji’s mismanagement that was made public in July.
The report flagged 14 problematic investments, including in Putrajaya Perdana that resulted in a RM193.5 million loss.
Azeez, then a Umno supreme council member, was TH chairman from 2013 to 2018.
