Petronas Carigali exec among 9 nabbed over RM2.3 billion graft

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) today confirmed the detainment of nine individuals since April 8 to assist in its investigation into claims of corruption related to a project at Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd (PCSB).

In a statement, it said that one of the nine was a junior executive at PCSB while the eight others were the owners and senior officials of contractor companies and vendors which had carried out projects linked to the alleged corrupion.

“The commission would like to clarify that one of the nine individuals detained to assist in the investigation is a junior executive at PCSB and not the CEO as claimed by some parties.

“This investigation is the result of the cooperation and information sharing between MACC and Petronas to help strengthen the integrity of the government-linked company,” it added.

On April 8, eight suspects were remanded by MACC over a project owned by a government-linked company worth more than RM2.3 billion.

Six of them were remanded at the Magistrate’s Court in Putrajaya while the remaining two were remanded at the court in Kuching.

A source said then that the suspects included the CEO, chief operating officer, executive officer, director and owner of the company who were believed to have been involved in acts of bribery from 2017 to 2021.

A number of items were also seized including 10 luxury vehicles, cash in various currencies amounting to over RM27,000, more than 50 pieces of jewellery and gold bars, 15 luxury watches and 13 luxury handbags.

Twelve company and individual accounts were also frozen.

Petronas meanwhile said in a statement on April 9 that a junior executive had been arrested by MACC over suspicions of corruption.

It also said that it was committed to cooperating fully with the anti-graft agency and that it strongly opposed any form of misconduct involving its staff.