KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 7 — Tabung Haji’s (TH) image and revenue are not affected despite the recent discovery of an illegal “haj express” service for Muslim pilgrims, said Islamic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is currently investigating five members of a syndicate, including TH officers, who were reportedly charging pilgrims on the haj waiting list the chance to “jump queue” at a cost of between RM1,000 and RM2,000 per person.

“This is not fraud but cheating by those who wanted to quickly [perform their haj] by jumping the queue, and my advice to would-be pilgrims is to be patient,” Jamil Khir was quoted as saying yesterday in Kedah by state news agency Bernama.

He said the Muslim pilgrims fund’s revenue last year even went up by six per cent.

The minister in charge of Islamic affairs said TH had detected the illegal service as early as two years ago.

It is understood the syndicate approached prospective pilgrims and promised to “push” their names forward on the waiting list for a certain year.

Jamil Khir said TH had penalised its officials involved in the illegal activities and that further action would be taken by the MACC.

The TH board is beefing up its database security by upgrading its computerised system to overcome existing management weaknesses and end the “haj express”, the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said.