A junior-level executive of Petronas Carigali is among nine individuals held by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) since last Friday to assist an investigation into corruption involving projects at the upstream subsidiary of the state-backed energy company.
MACC in a statement on Monday said the other eight individuals were owners and senior officials of contractor companies and vendors carrying out projects related to the corruption issue.
“The investigation into this corruption case is the result of cooperation and information sharing between the MACC and Petronas to help strengthen integrity of the government-linked company,” said MACC.
Last Friday, local media reported that eight individuals were arrested to assist the investigation into corruption cases related to projects, under a government-linked company, worth over MYR2.3 billion ($544 million).
All those arrested are alleged to have been involved in corruption related to Petronas’ projects between 2017 and 2021.
Another individual was arrested on Saturday in connection with the case.
Petronas confirmed on Saturday that one of its junior-level staff was arrested by the MACC on suspicion of corruption, adding that the company would extend its full cooperation and strongly opposed any form of misconduct among its staff.
As Energy Voice reported on Monday, the news underscores that the risk of corrupt practises remains high at Petronas.
Last year, nine Petronas employees were sacked following an internal probe into corruption that related to maintenance and service contracts between Petronas’ upstream subsidiary and a long-standing contractor. The Petronas employees were found to be receiving illicit cash payments or paid holidays to exotic locations from the contractors.