Three remanded for six days in probe into false invoice claim totalling RM23.65 mln

PUTRAJAYA: A senior manager of an oil exploration company is one of three people remanded for six days from yesterday to help in the investigation into a false invoice claim amounting to US$ 5.56 million (about RM23.65 million) for a project in Bintulu, Sarawak, in 2015.

The remand order was issued by Magistrate Nik Isfahanie Tasnim Wan Ab Rahman.

The two other people are a female director of a contractor company, said to have been appointed to implement the project, and a former technical assistant of the oil exploration company.

The three people were reportedly arrested by the Malaysian AntiCorruption Commission between 2.40pm and 3pm yesterday.

The senior manager of the oil exploration company was reportedly arrested at his office in Kuala Lumpur while the contractor company director and former technical assistant were picked up at their houses in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, respectively. According to media reports, a false claim was filed by way of three invoices of the contractor company between April and June 2015 for work that was to have been carried out by the company.

Meanwhile, the national oil company, Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), in a statement yesterday confirmed that the MACC had arrested an employee for suspected graft.

According to the statement, the arrest took place following an internal investigation on the employee conducted by Petronas which later reported the case to the MACC.

“Petronas also assisted MACC investigators on the case prior to the arrest. Petronas does not condone nor tolerate any form of misconduct among its employees and contractors and is extending its fullest cooperation to MACC to further assist in their investigation if necessary,” it said.

Petronas has since 2012 been working closely with MACC to curb and prevent corruption and misconduct not just among employees within its group of companies but also among contractors and third-party service providers, it added.