KUALA LUMPUR: Tabung Haji has denied allegations that pilgrimage fund board had acquire plots of land owned by 1Malaysia Development Berhad at exorbitant prices.
Its chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim said the claim is untrue, and that Tabung Haji will issue an official statement on the matter soon.
"Wrong. Tabung Haji will release a statement as soon as possible," Abdul Azeez said in response posed to him on Twitter Wednesday night.
The claim first emerged when a blog called 'The Benchmark' published a set of documents on Tuesday, purportedly detailing the proposed purhcase of two plots of land at the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) -- one for RM194 million at RM2,6860 per sq ft, and the other for RM578 million at RM3,900 per sq ft.
Claiming it had received the supposed documents from "little birds" in Tabung Haji, the blog claimed the deal had received the government's approval in less than two weeks.
Calling it a "fast-track" deal, the blog claimed the money had been paid to 1MDB in full.
The blog also claimed that 1MDB had acquired large tracts of TRX land in Jalan Tun Razak at a cheap rate of RM60 sq ft.
It alleged that 1MDB had also purchased the Sungai Besi RMAF airbase, at a rate of RM90 per sq ft.