Two AirAsia chiefs step aside amid Airbus bribery probe

[KUALA LUMPUR] Two AirAsia chiefs will step aside for at least two months as authorities and the airline look into claims that aerospace giant Airbus paid the company US$50 million to secure a plane order.

Airbus said last week it had agreed to set aside up to 3.6 billion euros (S$5.45 billion) to settle a corruption probe by authorities in France, Britain and the United States.

As news of the probe widened, the Malaysia-based AirAsia was named in a bribery investigation by Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO), allegedly implicating two company executives.

In a late Monday filing on Malaysia's stock market, the budget carrier said its chief executive Tony Fernandes and executive chairman Kamarudin Meranun would leave their positions immediately.

Both men were to stand down "for a period of two months or such other period that the company may deem fit", the airline said.

The airline's board formed a committee to review the allegations, stating that Mr Kamarudin and Mr Fernandes would be kept as company advisors and redesignated as non-independent non-executive board members.

A court document on the SFO's website said EADS France SAS - which was later renamed as Airbus Group SAS - paid US$50 million as sponsorship for a sports team owned by two unnamed AirAsia executives.

Identified as "key decision makers" in AirAsia and AirAsia X - the company long-haul arm - they were allegedly rewarded with the order of 180 aircraft from Airbus.

"The payments to the sports team were intended to secure or reward improper favour by them in respect of that business," the document said.

Both Mr Kamarudin and Mr Fernandes denied any wrongdoing and said in a Monday joint statement that they "would not harm the very companies that we spent our entire lives building up to their present global status."

The airline previously said it was not involved in any way with the SFO's Airbus investigation, nor was it given an opportunity to provide any information to the fraud investigator office.

Malaysia's anti-corruption commission said on Saturday it was empowered to investigate any act of corruption committed by citizens or permanent residents anywhere outside the country.

"In the case of the Airbus-AirAsia disclosures, I can confirm that the MACC is in touch with the UK authorities and is already investigating the matter," chief commissioner Latheefa Koya said then.

AFP