KUALA TERENGGANU: An agency offering cheap umrah packages is at the centre of Terengganu’s biggest pilgrimage scandal.
Up to 4,800 teachers and their relatives here paid Yayasan Bakti Negara Terengganu (YBNT) a total of RM14.2 million in fees over a period of three months since Nov – but the trip to the Holy Land never materialised.
Now, not only have the would-be pilgrims been cheated of the privilege of performing umrah, but their money may never be recovered, as authorites have frozen YBNT’s accounts pending a police investigation, which has so far seen two people remanded.
Police made their move against YBNT after more than 40 reports were lodged against it since last month.
Bandar assemblyman Azan Ismail said that each of the victims had paid RM3,000 to YBNT, which investigations show is an unauthorised agency which used the fees collected to invest elsewhere.
“As a result, the money collected by the agency has been ‘lost’ and the (would-be) pilgrims are (distraught).
“Many of the victims are ordinary school teachers who had borrowed money or dug deep into their savings for the trip to the Holy Land,” he said.
According to Azan, YBNT, through a collaboration with the Terengganu Education Department, had attracted the victims with the cheap fees by promising to top-up the balance of payment of nearly RM4,000 each through sponsors.
Azan said YBNT had taken over the task previously undertaken by Agensi Pembangunan Masyarakat Terengganu.
Social media GPS Bestari and the Terengganu Foundation’s portal had even reported that YBNT had forged an alliance with the Terengganu government to sponsor the Trenglish programme on Aug 4 last year.
But Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman, who is also the Terengganu Foundation chairman, has denied any links with YBNT.
Azan questioned how YBNT was able to so easily take advantage of the victims, and was not even vetted by the Terengganu Malay Customs and Islamic Religious Council (Maidam) and other religious authorities.
“This has cast a negative perspective on Muslims, and painted a bad picture of pilgrimage packages in the country.
“I call on all concerned parties to responsibly rectify the situation for the benefit of the poor victims, who had readily trusted the agency, as it was religious in nature,” said Azan.