PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is investigating the alleged misuse of RM12 million, believed to be linked to two cases involving the oil and gas solutions provider Sapura Energy Bhd.
Its Chief Commissioner, Tan Sri Azam Baki said in the first case, statements from 15 witnesses have been recorded, but no arrests have been made so far.
He said that the MACC has also frozen assets or properties belonging to a director of Sapura Petroleum and his family, as well as two luxury homes valued at RM5.5 million owned by the company’s chief executive officer (CEO).
“In this first case, the investigation is ongoing, and we are determining whether the RM12 million constitutes an offence under Section 23 of the MACC Act,“ he said at a press conference held at the MACC headquarters here today.
Azam said the incident took place in 2018, during a time when Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) injected funds into Sapura Energy, thereby making it a government-linked company (GLC).
“When we say a GLC, it means the government has a stake in it. Therefore, any misuse of funds will fall under offences stipulated in our act, namely Section 23 of the MACC Act or possibly other offences under the Penal Code,“ he said.
Azam said the second case involves allegations of bribery by a foreign party to a CEO in 2011 in an attempt to secure a project owned by Sapura Energy.
“This bribery case involves a total of USD 3.3 million (RM14 million). At the time, the company was known as Sapura Crest, under Sapura Energy. A subcontract was awarded to a foreign company in Brazil. The payment was made by an agent and routed through a (foreign) country, via the Netherlands and channelled through Singapore”, he said.
He said that the MACC has to submit multiple requests for Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) to relevant countries to obtain further information.
“In this second case, I anticipate that the process will take a considerable amount of time due to the involvement of foreign legal jurisdictions,“ he also said.
“We need to provide much more information to them (the two cases), and after we receive the necessary data, we will proceed with investigations within our country,“ he added.
In March, the MACC initiated two investigation papers regarding alleged bribery and embezzlement involving Sapura Energy Bhd.
The investigations stem from the MACC’s preliminary findings at the end of 2023, which involved claims related to the company.
The MACC said the two investigation papers were opened to investigate activities related to money laundering and embezzlement from around 2018 when the company was formerly known as Sapura Kencana Petroleum Bhd.
