A blog has alleged that Malaysian pilgrims’ fund Lembaga Tabung Haji had played a role in laundering money for Saudi prince Al-Waleed Talal, who has been recently arrested on corruption charges.
“Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal has been arrested for corruption by his own government, and his assets are in the process of being frozen. These will include assets held by family members who are highly unlikely to have wealth other than that of the family. Among them, his son Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal has invested AUD$100 million into various property developments in Sydney. His partner in these ventures is a subsidiary of Malaysia’s Tabung Haji, TH Properties.”
“Given the fact of Al-Waleed’s corruption charge and the freezing of his assets, Tabung Haji’s role in laundering his money must be assumed,” claimed blogger Ganesh Sahathevan.
Meanwhile, Lembaga Tabung Haji called that blogger’s accusation as “tainted, baseless and false”, but it admitted that its wholly-owned property development division TH Properties had made several investments with Piety investments.
Notably, Piety investments obtained a A$100 million investment from Crestmount Capital, a Middle Eastern Fund operated by Prince Khaled, a son of Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal.
Lembaga Tabung Haji argued that all investments directly made by TH Properties were sourced from internal funds. It has never occurred in any point in time that it secured financing from Crestmount Capital.
In addition, TH Properties complied with all regulatory requirements in Malaysia and Australia for its developments in Sydney, Australia.
“THP is not privy to any dealings (if any) between Crestmount Capital and Piety Group. The insinuation that Crestmount Capital funds are tainted has been made by the blogger alone, for which he or she must bear sole responsibility,” replied TH Properties.
As a conglomerate with duties to its depositors, Lembaga Tabung Haji is extremely concerned with such wild and inaccurate insinuations against it that may negatively impact its reputation and scare its depositors.
“Tabung Haji Group, has to its best, ensured that its business and investments are carried out effectively in accordance with Islamic principles through good corporate governance and best business principles giving priority to integrity, transparency and accountability,” it added.
Image sourced from Malay Mail.
This article was edited by the editorial team of PropertyGuru. To contact them about this or other stories email editorialteam@propertyguru.com.my
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