This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on August 17, 2026 - August 23, 2026

In December 2014, Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) bought 30% of Putrajaya Perdana Bhd for RM193.5 million from Cendana Destini Sdn Bhd (CDSB).

The objective was to obtain initial public offering returns, with Putrajaya Perdana to be listed in a year. (Note: It was delisted in 2010).

However, Putrajaya Perdana failed to list in a year.

On March 7, 2018, TH issued a put option notice to CDSB, requiring it to purchase the Putrajaya Perdana shares for RM210.7 million. CDSB failed to make payment.

In FY2024, TH completely wrote off the RM193.5 million investment as a total loss.

TH’s chairman at the time, Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, later became chairman of Putrajaya Perdana.

Abdul Azeez was TH chairman from 2013 to 2018 and chairman of Putrajaya Perdana from January 2015, following the signing of the deal in December 2014.

TH’s internal research team had valued the stake at RM124 million to RM155 million, but the deal was approved at RM193.5 million.

The investment panel had asked TH’s management to identify the seller’s ultimate shareholder, but there was no response and the acquisition went ahead.

On paper, CDSB was controlled by Datuk Rosman Abdullah, who was also Putrajaya Perdana’s managing director. He has testified in court that the two companies were actually controlled by Jho Low.

Checks by The Edge showed that CDSB was set up by B&M Consultancy Services Sdn Bhd, the same secretarial services company that also set up other Jho Low companies. Those companies include Javace, Majestic Masterpiece and Wynton Private Equity.

It also had the same company secretary in Lim Poh Seng. In addition, B&M has ties to Wong & Partners, the principal legal firm of Jho Low and 1MDB.

TH’s investment panel approved the acquisition in Putrajaya Perdana in July 2014. This was followed by approval from TH’s board and the then Minister for Religious Affairs in August 2014.

The share sale agreement was signed in December 2014.

Coincidentally, the three SRC International transfers to Putrajaya Perdana totalling RM170 million (of which RM32 million eventually went into Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal accounts) were made during the same time period.

The RM170 million was transferred from SRC to Putrajaya Perdana in three payments in July 2014 (RM35 million and RM105 million) and August 2014 (RM30 million).

The RM170 million was later transferred back from Putrajaya Perdana to SRC in December 2014 and January 2015 (Najib retained the RM32 million that went into his account).

Rosman said in court on Feb 26, 2020, during the SRC trial, that Jho Low was still the beneficial owner of Putrajaya Perdana at the time of the SRC transfers (and by implication, during the TH purchase).

1.     Jho Low was the beneficial owner of CDSB and Putrajaya Perdana during the TH transaction.

2.     Who did Jho Low deal with in the TH purchase? Was it Abdul Azeez, who later joined Putrajaya Perdana’s board?

3.     Why were so many internal concerns over the transaction — valuations and identity, for example — brushed aside? Who brushed them aside and      made the decisions?

4.     Why was due diligence done only after the acquisition approvals and not before?

5.     Could the purpose of the SRC transfers have been to artificially boost Putrajaya Perdana’s accounts for TH to buy at a higher price?

In May 2015, TH bought 1.5 acres of land at the then yet-to-be-built Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) for RM188 million from 1MDB. The catch was that 1MDB itself had bought the entire 70 acres there from the government for only RM194 million.

Essentially, TH was milked to cover the hole at 1MDB, which was then under a lot of scrutiny over its finances. 

Read also:
Cover Story: Dissecting the RM19.9 bil bailout of Tabung Haji
Cover Story: Some of the bad TH investments
Cover Story: What shares did Tabung Haji transfer to UJSB for RM16.87 bil?
Cover Story: The 30 biggest stocks sold to UJSB and how they are doing now

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