KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 — The Islamic Economic Development Foundation (Yapeim) today clarified that the temporary suspension of its director-general Abibullah Samsudin was not related to the viral video in which he warned staff against voting for Pakatan Harapan during the 14th general election.
Yapeim chairman Datuk Mohd Daud Bakar in a statement said that Abibullah was relieved of his duties in order to enable the foundation’s management to complete its internal probe following the external audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers Malaysia (PwC).
“The main reason behind the director-general’s suspension of service is so that Yapeim can complete its internal investigation process regarding allegations of misconduct in line with the recent audit report by the PwC firm,” Mohd Daud asserted.
He said such suspension is a standard procedure in any organisation if there are claims of wrongdoing, where staff can be investigated based on the internal rules of the organisation.
“With regards to that, the Yapeim management has asked for the collaboration and goodwill of the media and social media (users) to stop all speculation that the basis of the Yapeim director-general’s temporary suspension is linked to the particular speech recording so that Yapeim can carry on with its investigations,” he said.
Abibullah was suspended on Tuesday after the video was found during the internal probe and PwC audit.
On May 11, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Fuziah Salleh confirmed that Yapeim’s books have been audited by PwC.
She said it was up to Yapeim’s board of directors to decide on whether to make the findings public.
On the same day, media reports emerged that RM1 million of Yapeim funds meant for orphans had been funnelled in 2017 to pay the legal fees of a certain lawyer representing former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Najib has since denied the allegation.
