KUALA LUMPUR: Lembaga Tabung Haji's land acquisition at TRX was a commercial decision and not a bailout of 1MDB, says its Deputy chief executive officer Datuk Johan Abdullah
The decision to invest on the land was made after looking at the expected 27 per cent return of investment over a three years' time.
Johan said the land was acquired at a discount of RM5.5 million at RM188.5 million from RM194 million which was valued by independent valuers.
"This was not a bailout for 1MDB. The decision was made based on the expected return of the land and the competitive price we bought it at.
"The market value of surrounding properties are much higher. We think it was a fair price to pay for it.
"The signature tower land deal did not go through as claimed. We were offered the land, but we did not take it considering our risk appetite," he told reporters at a briefing, here, today.
He assured that depositors should not be worried as it was a lucrative investment decision that would benefit them.
He was commenting on claims made on a blog that Tabung Haji was using its depositors' money to bail 1MDB out.