LTH and ARB ...

I chance to read the StarOnLine webpage today on the news of a JV company - Abraj Sdn Bhd - formed on a 50:50 basis by Lembaga Tabung Haji (LTH) and Amanah Raya Bhd (ARB). The CEO announced that the company was formed to look into real estate investment opportunities of the depositors and shareholders whose deposits now amount to RM 24 billion.

Now, as far as I know, LTH was created to manage and help Malays perform their pilgrimage to Mekah in a more organised manner than before (ie prior to 1963) when individual Malays, mostly living in rural areas, had to save, scrounge, pawn, sell properties, etc in order to accumulate enough cash to go to Mekah.

I hope these people in LTH know what they are doing. Remember the scandal sometime ago. A bunch of senior executives thought they were smart in handling the big cash pile by being involved in the forex market. In the end, 2 senior general managers of LTH, all Datuks and Hajis, were jailed 10 years on 6 counts of cheating and CBT of some RM 400 million. The trouble is, these people think, that the money belongs to them and not the depositors.

I personally am wary about deposits being handled by Datuks and Pak Hajis. The next scandal, the mother of all scandals, would be money deposited in the Amanah schemes. Depositors beware.

[P.S. Amanah Raya Berhad is wholly owned by the Ministry of Finance.]