Suspended by Putrajaya, Iksim blames audit for untraceable RM7.4m allocation

PETALING JAYA, Aug 7 — A Putrajaya-linked Islamic think tank has blamed poor audit practices for RM7.4 million of its allocation deemed untraceable, after its operations was suspended by Putrajaya.

In a statement, the Islamic Strategic Research Institute Malaysia (Iksim) has slammed Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Mujahid Yusof Rawa for his alleged slander, claiming it was based on an “incomplete audit” by the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Council (MAIWP).

It insisted that the internal audit team from MAIWP which is tasked to audit their financial accounts is not an accredited body.

“In fact, their findings are categorised as incomplete, as an ‘exit conference’ has yet to be conducted,” it said.

An exit conference is when the audit result is presented to the auditee and additional comments on the proposed finding and recommendations are made before the draft audit report is finally issued.

Iksim claimed that the “missing” RM7.4 million raised by the minister was based from the different standards of work and accounting procedures practices by the two bodies.

“Every ringgit that is managed by Iksim can be checked in mere minutes, however the MAIWP auditors have categorised the supposed differences as an infraction,’’ it said.

Iksim said it has given its full cooperation with the auditors and is still waiting for an exit conference which has been postponed three times by MAIWP.

It also insisted that it is an established company that has been successfully audited without recommendation or infractions since it was established in 2014.

Yesterday, Mujahid who is the minister in charge of Islamic affairs, said only 2.2 per cent or RM120,000 of Iksim’s RM7.6 million allocation could be traced with the appropriate receipts and proof of transactions.

Last month, Mujahid said Iksim has in the past been used as a political tool by the previous administration to attack political dissenters.

Mujahid himself has been a target, with Iksim chief executive officer Datuk Mahamad Naser Disa labelling him and other then-Opposition politicians as supporters of liberalism, pluralism, and the LGBT.