Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) will be investigating disclosures that implicate the directors and/or employees of AirAsia Group Bhd and AirAsia X Bhd as beneficiaries of US$50 mil (RM204 mil) in kickbacks by European planemaker Airbus SE.
As the executives are linked to companies listed on Bursa Malaysia, SC chairman Syed Zaid Albar said in a Feb 2 statement that the regulator “will examine the allegations and review all available evidence to determine if there is any breach of securities laws.”
Syed Zaid cited Section 317A of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007 where “a director of a public listed company (PLC) who does anything with the intention of causing wrongful loss to the PLC or its related corporation commits an offence which is punishable with imprisonment and fine.”
Citing court documents, FocusM reported earlier that the directors and/or employees of low-cost carrier AirAsia Group and its long-haul unit AirAsia X Bhd have been said to be recipients of a US$50 mil (RM204 mil) bribe from European planemaker Airbus SE.
According to British prosecutors with the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Airbus paid the sum to sponsor a sports team jointly owned by two unnamed AirAsia executives in Malaysia. The documents also said that Airbus employees also attempted to pay an additional US$55 mil to the directors and/or employees of AirAsia and AirAsia X but were prevented by an October 2014 freeze to agents and intermediaries.
But AirAsia had refuted the findings saying that “at the outset” it was “neither involved in any way whatsoever” with the SFO) investigation of Airbus “nor given any opportunity to provide any information or clarification to the SFO.”
“AirAsia vigorously rejects and denies any and all allegations of wrongdoing,” the company said in Feb 1 statement.
Meanwhile, transparency watchdog Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) has also urged SC as well as the MACC to investigate the AirAsia-Airbus allegations as “this is a matter of public interest.”
“This news is disturbing because it is a home grown brand and the government is doing its best for Malaysia to be known for her integrity and not corruption,” TI-M president Muhammad Mohan said in a Feb 2 statement.
As MACC had already begun investigations into the matter yesterday (Feb 1), TI-M has urged for both MACC and SC to be allowed to “do an independent investigation as this matter is of public interest.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, in a Jan 31 report, Airbus agreed to a hefty US$ 4 bil settlement with prosecutors from the US, UK and France over alleged bribery and export-control violations against the planemaker.
Airbus disclosed the financial terms of the deal, said to be the largest international settlement over alleged bribery, earlier that week. Anti-graft officers in all three jurisdictions, in detailed allegations released Friday, which included the UK High Court documents sighted, said Airbus made illicit payments for years to intermediaries to secure contracts for its planes and other products.
