appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Iman Muttaqin Yusof

Former Malaysian pilgrimage fund chairman Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to abusing his position to secure a lucrative corporate post and influence a 193.5 million ringgit (US$47.5 million) investment by the fund.
Azeez, 60, a veteran Umno Supreme Council member, is the highest-profile politician to be charged so far in the fallout from a royal inquiry into the state-run savings fund Tabung Haji.
Wearing a purple police lock-up uniform and handcuffed as he stood in the dock, Azeez said: “The allegation in this corruption case is completely untrue, and I ask to be tried.”
The Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court appearance comes as the former ruling party opens its annual congress after recent state-election gains.
Azeez is accused of using his position as Lembaga Tabung Haji head in August 2014 to become chairman of construction company Putrajaya Perdana. The post, which paid 690,000 ringgit a year, came with a BMW 7 Series and a full-time driver.
Prosecutors allege he instructed then Tabung Haji chief executive Ismee Ismail to nominate him as the fund’s representative at Putrajaya Perdana and persuaded its board to approve an investment of up to 193.5 million ringgit, about 30 per cent of its existing issued share capital, despite having an interest in the deal.

The charge, under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act, carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of at least five times the value of the gratification involved, or 10,000 ringgit, whichever is higher.
Earlier on Wednesday, Azeez and two former senior Tabung Haji officials were remanded for two days in a separate police investigation into alleged fraud involving the fund’s profit distributions to depositors. His lawyer said the other two were the former chief executive and group chief financial officer.
Azeez returns to the dock four years after the High Court acquitted him of nine unrelated corruption and money-laundering charges involving road projects in Perak and Kedah. He was fully cleared in December 2022, three months after receiving a discharge not amounting to an acquittal.
Past baggage
Tabung Haji helps Malaysian Muslims save for the haj pilgrimage. It held 93.4 billion ringgit in depositor savings at the end of 2025, with 9.7 million depositors nationwide.
A royal commission report released in late July examined Tabung Haji’s management from 2014 to 2020, spanning Najib Razak’s Barisan Nasional government and the administrations that followed its 2018 defeat. It identified political interference, governance failures and problematic investments, and proposed 25 reforms.
The commission also found that Tabung Haji had resorted to “creative accounting” while paying profit distributions beyond its financial capacity. Had Malaysian accounting standards been fully applied, the fund would have recorded a 1.4 billion ringgit loss in 2017, instead of the 3.4 billion ringgit profit it reported.
Among the failings identified was the appointment of active politicians to Tabung Haji’s leadership, Religious Affairs Minister Zulkifli Hasan told a special parliamentary sitting last month. “We must never again allow Tabung Haji to become a victim of the abuse of power and political interests,” he said.
The MACC said last week it had opened 14 investigation papers linked to the inquiry, detained 18 people and remanded 11. Former religious affairs minister Jamil Khir Baharom was separately remanded over a inquiry into Tabung Haji hotel leases in Saudi Arabia and released on bail on Tuesday.
Two Tabung Haji subsidiary officials have also pleaded not guilty to criminal breach of trust charges, while former chief operating officer Adi Azuan Abdul Ghani is due in court on September 24.

Less than two weeks ago, former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, another Umno veteran, pleaded not guilty to failing to declare millions in local and foreign currencies and gold bars.
The legal pressure comes as Umno tries to convert its recent state election gains into momentum for a broader federal comeback.
Party president and Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is also calling for the next general election to be held earlier than February 2028. Zahid has described the party’s recent momentum as a “blue wave” towards Putrajaya.
Umno began its four-day annual assembly on Wednesday after Barisan Nasional, the coalition it leads, scored strong victories in Johor and Negeri Sembilan.
James Chin, a scholar of Asian studies at the University of Tasmania, said Azeez’s prosecution “complicates the party comeback narrative” but was unlikely to shake Umno’s core support.
“Umno is of the view that this really doesn’t matter as long as they can get the votes of [Malay] supporters,” Chin said.
“Most people associate Umno with grand corruption … people are not surprised,” he said. “It’s not going to affect the core Umno votes at all.”


Health crisis grips Indonesians enduring haze: ‘my eyes sting, my head hurts’

Malaysia to invite Myanmar’s Min Aung Hlaing for Rohingya repatriation talks

Kimi creator Moonshot draws global funds seeking ‘top-tier’ Chinese AI developers: sources

Malaysian councillor resigns after DAP remarks at Umno assembly

Malaysia

Umno heavyweight charged in Malaysian haj fund scandal as party eyes comeback

Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim speaks at a Barisan Nasional rally in July. Photo: Facebook/AzeezRahim

Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim is a veteran Umno Supreme Council member. Photo: Umno

Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob arrives at the Kuala Lumpur court complex for a hearing on August 27. Photo: Reuters

Former Malaysian minister arrested  in state haj fund corruption probe

Malaysia’s Lembaga Tabung Haji headquarters (left) in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: Wikipedia Commons / 龍崎 Jeffrey

Muslim pilgrims circle the Kaaba, the holiest site in Islam, in Mecca on June 5, 2025. Photo: EPA-EFE

Malaysia’s Ismail Sabri denies failing to declare millions in cash, gold bars

Former Malaysian prime minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, waves as he leaves a court in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. Photo: EPA

Malaysia’s former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob (centre) arrives at the Kuala Lumpur court complex on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

PAS chief to face Malaysian police over claims US would help ‘topple’ government

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang (centre) attends the party’s recent annual congress. Photo: Handout

PAS supporters take a selfie with party president Abdul Hadi Awang (centre) during its annual convention in Kota Bharu, Malaysia, on Friday. Photo: Facebook/abdulhadiawang

US President Barack Obama (second from right) with Malaysia’s King Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah (second from left), Queen Haminah Hamidun and Prime Minister Najib Razak in Kuala Lumpur in April 2014. Photo: AP

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (right) greets performers during the 69th Independence Day celebration in Putrajaya on August 31. Photo: Reuters

Malaysia’s PAS eyes new pecking order as it rekindles ties with Umno

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang (centre, in vest) attends the party’s annual convention Kota Bharu, Malaysia, on Friday. Photo: Facebook/abdulhadiawang

PAS delegates attend the party’s annual convention in Kota Bharu, Malaysia, on Friday. Photo: Facebook/abdulhadiawang

Supporters of PAS wave flags in Pekan, Malaysia. The party holds 43 parliamentary seats and governs Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah and Perlis. Photo: AFP

PAS delegates at the party’s annual convention on Friday. Photo: Facebook/abdulhadiawang

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has stressed that the federal government remains stable. Photo: EPA

Are Malaysian Muslims less corrupt? PAS leader skewered over divisive politics

PAS supporters gather outside an election nomination centre in Langkawi, Malaysia, in 2018. Photo: AP

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang. Photo: Malaysia’s Department of Information/AFP

This Week in Asia

Politics

News

Asia

Southeast Asia

Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim is the highest-profile politician to be charged so far in the fallout from a royal inquiry into Tabung Haji


Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim is the highest-profile politician to be charged so far in the fallout from a royal inquiry into Tabung Haji.


Umno heavyweight charged in Malaysian haj fund scandal as party eyes comeback

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim is the highest-profile politician to be charged so far in the fallout from a royal inquiry into Tabung Haji

Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim is the highest-profile politician to be charged so far in the fallout from a royal inquiry into Tabung Haji