Yesterday yours truly had posted an article about the bribery scandal involving two AirAsia and AirAsia X executives, HERE. After several hours of the UK Crown Judgment / Verdict dated 31.1.2020 about the two directors of AirAsia were found to have received bribe of of US$50 million (RM204 million) from Airbus had gone viral, the MACC Chief Ms Latheefa Koya acted expeditiously and announced that MACC was in contact with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) of UK, HERE.
She should be applauded for taking swift actions in public interest on the said bribery scandal involving the two directors of AirAsia.
Ms Latheefa Koya was right to state in her press statement that:
“Under the MACC Act, we are empowered, and have jurisdiction, to investigate any act of corruption committed by any Malaysian citizen or permanent resident in any place outside Malaysia.”
The AirAsia bribery scandal is not a difficult case for MACC. From a legal stand point, the SFO of UK must already have more than sufficient evidence to prosecute Airbus for bribery based on the evidence it had gathered. Hence, in the light of the evidence, Airbus was compelled to propose a settlement in order to defer prosecution pending approval from the Crown Court in UK. If Airbus did not enter into the settlement then it will be prosecuted for bribery and etc.
According to to the said Judgment / Verdict the SFO even possessed email correspondence from a director of AirAsia demanding furhter payment of US$4 million. The said email also mentioned that US$16 million had been owed to me for ages when I bought the first 60 aircrafts.
Yesterday yours truly called upon MACC, SC and Burtsa KL to act on the damning evidence exposed in the said Judgment / Verdict of the said Crown Court.
Transparency International Called Upon SC To Act On The Bribery Scandal
This morning Transparency International called upon SC to investigate into the Airbus having paid a bribe of US$50 mil to AirAsia Executive 1 and AirAsias Executive 2 as stated in the said Judgment / Verdict, HERE.
SC has issued a press statement this morning that it will also investigate into the said bribery scandal.
“The statement of facts in the case of Regina vs Airbus SE discloses several allegations against AirAsia Group Bhd and AirAsia X Bhd.
“As both are listed on Bursa Malaysia, the Securities Commission Malaysia will examine the allegations and review all available evidence to determine if there is any breach of securities laws,” SC chairman Datuk Syed Zaid Albar said in a statement, HERE.
Yours truly believes that this coming days Bursa KL will also commence its investigation into this bribery scandal.
The Spin Doctors For AirAsia
The spin doctors AirAsia was in great pain in trying to spin out of the very tight corner. But it was a miserable poor attempt, HERE.
It must be noted that in the said Judgment / Verdict Airbus had admitted to have bribed the two top brass of AirAsia and AirAsia X. The press statement by AirAsia did not touch one single bit about the Agreed Facts in the Judgment / Verdict of the UK Crown Court that Airbus had paid US$50 million (RM204 million) to AirAsia Executive 1 and AirAsia Executive 2!
However, it was very glaring that the spin doctors in AirAsia did not dare to spin on the US$50 million (RM204 million) bribe paid to and received by AirAsia Executive 1 and AirAsian Executive 2. Why? It must be that AirAsia knew too well that two of directors in AirAsia had received the RM204 million bribe from Airbus.
We can only feel sorry for the spin doctors in AirAsia was caught in the mess created by the two top brass in AirAsia and AirAsia X.
It is an open and shut case. It will not be too long that the two culprits in AirAsia will be dragged to the Court to be charged with receiving bribe and/or money laundering. Now that SC is also investigating the bribery scandal.
It Is Almost Impossible For AG to NFA The Bribery Scandal
It will be almost impossible for AG to NFA (No Further Action) this matter like the scandal costing Tourism Malaysia RM100 million, which involved Dato’ Siew Ka Wei, the executive chairman of Ancom Bhd, and the Redberry Media Specialist, Ms Elizabeth Ken, HERE & HERE. But we will never know.
Lets sit back and wait for the interesting movie on the Airbus bribery scandal to develop.
