After a week of hype, yes or no, moving to when, the RCI report on Tabung Haji (TH) that was eventually released to the public on 29 July 2026 was a total letdown.
Moreso when the hype led the ordinary rakyat to perceive and believed that monies were stolen or illegally channeled out and the report will unmask and identify the culprits behind the theft, something akin to what transpired in the SRC and 1MDB cases.
What a letdown.
Instead, what is it?
The six-member commission said the discrepancy stemmed from political interference in board appointments, changes in impairment policies, unrecorded losses from troubled investments, and the use of “creative accounting” to justify annual profit distributions, or hibah, to depositors, weak oversight, ambitious investment strategies and rising subsidy obligations.
- Financial mismanagement - TH actually posted a net loss of RM1.4 billion in 2017 — not the RM3.4 billion profit it reported at the time.
- The RCI Commission found TH's liabilities exceeded its assets from 2014–2017, per its own audited financials, confirmed by the National Audit Department.
- Political influence was found in decisions on profit distribution (hibah), Hajj fee-setting, and Hajj Financial Assistance (HAFIS).
- Excessive bonuses - Staff received bonuses of 2–13 months' salary from 2010–2017 including a RM74 million bonus provision in 2014 alone despite the fund's deteriorating finances.
- TH Properties board members were paid roughly RM2.19 million in bonuses across 2017–2018 (RM1.148m + RM1.045m) that the RCI says breached proper approval processes.
- Several TH Properties payments were found to violate the Companies Act 2016, having been approved by an exco meeting without proper mandate or required shareholder resolutions The RCI recommends clawing back these bonus payments.
- Investment irregularities - Suspicious transactions and concealment of information were found in several problematic investments, with disorganized decision-making and no clear coordination among TH's Chief Investment Officer, Chief Corporate Finance Officer, Chief Property Officer, and Treasury head.
- The report recommends forensic audits into 14 troubled investments.
- Cabinet has ordered enforcement agencies to pursue full investigation, with potential prosecution for those implicated.
‘Creative accounting’ masked TH’s financial losses where the Commission said TH used Realisable Asset Value (RAV), instead of asset values reported in audited financial statements, to determine its ability to declare hibah payments, resulting in higher asset valuations and allowed larger distributions than TH’s actual financial position could support.
Jabatan Audit Negara (JAN) under the Auditor General.
JAN audits public sector accounts, including federal and state governments, statutory bodies, local authorities, and government-linked companies receiving public funds.
JAN aligns its auditing methodologies with internationally recognized frameworks where it adheres to the International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAIs) issued by the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI).
However, there are regulatory loopholes which allowed management discretion in asset definitions.
As there are thousands of diverse industries, financial standards rely on principles rather than strict, unyielding formulas.
This effectively creates systematic gaps that corporate executives can leverage to alter asset presentations legally.
Is using realisable asset value (RAV) instead of audited financial statement values is a criminal offense by itself?
No.
But it can cross into illegal territory if used deliberately to cheat, mislead regulators, or commit fraud.
If it is used to bypass statutory requirements (such as rules governing profit or dividend distribution) and it violates specific governing acts or financial reporting standards, it will only lead to severe administrative penalties, governance sanctions, or civil liabilities.
It becomes a criminal offense only if investigators prove intent to deceive—such as using inflated asset values to knowingly mask massive losses, fabricate profits, or commit corporate fraud.
Intent is critical.
Bad judgment isn't a crime.
Poor management, bad business decisions do not equal criminal behavior on their own.
This intent is usually proven through internal emails showing knowledge of the true losses, double-ledger bookkeeping, or deliberate manipulation of the valuation variables to hit a specific financial target.
Prosecution must prove the individuals / management knew the numbers were false and used them specifically to deceive stakeholders, falsify documents, or steal funds.
Any attempts to investigate all these especially when it happened so long ago and with intent difficult to establish will only be an unnecessary waste of tax payers’ monies.
Does this mean that whoever participated in the perpetration will be let off scot free?
Looking at the SRC and 1MDB cases whereby only PM6 was charged and jailed while the rest who participated, supported and facilitated in the cases are not, let us not be hopeful.
Unless some NGOs or the Bar Council initiate legal actions on behalf of all Malaysians and sue the management and the then directors of TH for a breach of fiduciary duty or negligence to recover the monies lost by TH.
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