KUALA LUMPUR, July 30 — The Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on Tabung Haji has recommended recovering RM2.19 million in bonuses paid to board members and management of TH Properties, as the bonuses were awarded without complying with prescribed regulations.
The RCI’s report released yesterday said the commission had examined documents and meeting minutes related to bonus payments to TH Properties board members and certain employees.
"The bonuses paid to TH Properties board members and certain employees in 2017 and 2018 were justified on the grounds that the property development projects in Australia, particularly ‘The Bay Pavilion’, had made significant financial contributions to TH Properties in 2016 and 2017.
“The commission found that several selected individuals were awarded special bonuses amounting to RM1,148,400 in 2017 and RM1.045 million in 2018," the report stated.
The commission also found that Lembaga Tabung Haji (LTH) employees were paid high bonuses.
"A review by the Commission found LTH employees were paid excessively high bonuses between 2010 and 2017.
"The bonuses ranged from two to thirteen months' salary, including annual bonuses and special bonuses.”
Typically, the LTH management and board would recommend bonus proposals to the religious affairs minister and finance minister.
"This included the proposal for extraordinary bonuses in 2014, ranging from one to eleven months' salary as annual bonuses and an additional two months' salary as a special bonus, bringing the total to as much as thirteen months' salary, involving an allocation of RM74 million.
The commission was of the view that such high bonuses were unjustified considering the financial difficulties faced by LTH from 2014 to 2017, during which the value of its assets was lower than its liabilities as reported in its annual financial statements and acknowledged by the National Audit Department.
Accordingly, the RCI said the practice of awarding excessively high bonuses to employees should be discontinued.
