Only one plot purchased, Tabung Haji clarifies

(The Star) – Tabung Haji has clarified that it only purchased one plot of land at the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX).

In a statement on Thursday, the pilgrimage fund’s Deputy Managing Director and CEO Datuk Johan Abdullah however, said it had not purchased a second parcel of land, as alleged by a whistleblower report.

On Tuesday, blog The Benchmark had released a set of documents purportedly detailing the purchase of two plots of land at TRX at an unreasonably high price from debt-ridden 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

The purchases, claimed the blog, were made to buy a plot of land for RM194mil at RM2,860 per sq ft, and the other for RM578mil at RM3,900 per sq ft.

Johan said Tabung Haji did make an investment to purchase the first plot of land but at RM188.5mil, based on a market value discount assessed by an independent professional valuer.

“The purchase was made in accordance with Tabung Haji’s property investment strategy that focuses on the domestic sector.

“This commercial decision has taken into account the risks and has gone through a thorough evaluation process,” he said.

He added that the residential property would be developed by Tabung Haji’s subsidiary, TH Properties Sdn Bhd, a move which is expected to gain positive revenues for Tabung Haji in the future.

“However, we would like to deny the purchase of Signature Tower (Phase Two) as alleged in certain blogs.

“Any document leaks cannot be seen as proof that the investment has been finalised,” he said, adding that Tabung Haji will continue to explore investment opportunities in the domestic market as outlined in the Strategic Asset Allocation framework.