Senior Petronas Officers Charged with Bribery and Money Laundering
KUALA LUMPUR, July 5, 2013 – Two senior officials of Petronas were charged at the Sessions Court today on 12 charges related to bribery and money laundering amounting to almost RM1 million.
Idris M. Shuhud, 47, senior manager of a Pipeline Replacement Project of Petronas, was alleged to have committed five offences under Section 17(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 (MACC Act 2009) for receiving bribes amounting to RM403,000.
He was accused to have received bribes between RM5,000 to RM287,500 through cheques and cash deposited into his personal bank account between 2007 and 2012 from Penaga Orbit Sdn Bhd in return for approving several official documents of Petronas.
He was also charged for committing four offences under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001 (AMLATFA 2001) for laundering money amounting to RM385,000 obtained through bribery transactions. Of this amount, RM375,000 was spent for the purchase of a house in Bandar Tun Hussein Onn, Cheras, while another RM10,000 was spent on renovation of the house.
The accused, who is unrepresented, pleaded not guilty to all charges and claimed trial.
Judge Ahmad Zamzani Mohd Zain set bail at RM15,000 with one surety, for each count under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act 2009, and bail of RM15,000 for each count under Section 4(1)(a) of the AMLATFA. At the sametime, the travel documents of the accused was also impounded.
Prosecution was represented by Deputy Public Prosecutors, Anthony Kevin Morais and Mohd Fareez Rahman.
At the same court, Ishak Hashim, 47, a Customer Risk Management Senior Manager, was charged on three counts under Section 11(a) of the Anti-Corruption Act 1997 for receiving bribes amounting to RM22,800 as incentives for the supply of Liquified Natural Gas through 69 tankers to Erision Chem Sdn Bhd.
The accused, a Logistic Group Crude Oil Manager at that time, was alleged to have committed the offences between August 19 and 29 of 2008 where he agreed to receive bribes of RM11,800 and RM11,000 from the Director of Erision Chem Sdn Bhd.
The amount was obtained through two separate transactions, one through direct transfer into his personal bank account and another through a friend’s bank account, Syed Mustaffa Syed Abu Bakar.
The accused was also charged for soliciting RM200 per tanker from the Director of Erision Chem Sdn Bhd on September 18, 2008 as an incentive for the supply of Liquified Natural Gas to the company.
Judge Ahmad Zamzani set bail at RM8,000 for each count and fixed August 1st, 2013 for case management.
Prosecution was by Deputy Public Prosecutor Afifah Mamat, while the accused was represented by counsel Jasvinderjit Singh.
