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The former chief legal officer claims the company tried to prevent her from collaborating in an investigation.
A former legal director at Aker Solutions has sued the company, writing to Reuters, referring to Malaysian legal documents. According to the news agency, the person in question claims that the company tried to prevent him from speaking to authorities about the company’s business practices.
The former employee claims Aker Solutions sued her in 2018 and obtained a court order to seize a laptop and gain access to email accounts, after the anti-corruption agency MACC ordered her to help in an investigation. The documents allegedly indicate that she was fired in February of the same year.
The company denied the former employee’s allegations, according to documents cited by Reuters. Aker Solutions tells E24 that they generally do not comment on ongoing personnel matters.
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Reuters: Aker Solutions is investigated by Malaysia’s anti-corruption agency
The stock is going up
Investors do not appear to be particularly concerned as a result of Wednesday’s news: the stock price is up 3.47 percent after falling 2.16 percent the day before. On the other hand, turnout fell when the polls were announced earlier this month.
Reuters later wrote, citing three anonymous sources, that Malaysia’s anti-corruption agency has launched investigations of Aker Solutions after signing a deal with state-owned energy company Petronas.
The investigations concern allegations that Aker Solutions provided false information about the ownership of one of its Malaysian departments to win contracts with Petronas, according to sources.
According to Reuters, Malaysia has a quota system, where a large portion of state-owned companies’ contracts are reserved for ethnic Malays and indigenous peoples.
Aker Solutions has previously denied to E24 that they did anything wrong. They believe that the company’s subsidiaries in Malaysia, based on what they know, have met all the established requirements.
“Documentation and information on the company structure, including ethnic quota requirements, has been provided in all contract renewal processes to verify that companies are compliant with Petrona contract requirements,” wrote Aker Solutions in a statement.
In contact with the Norwegian authorities
The company explained that the contracts were renewed in 2017 after clarifying meetings with the authorities, and that the last contract renewal was carried out at the beginning of the summer of this year.
“Aker Solutions is always committed to cooperating with local authorities in the countries in which we operate. This includes answering questions from the authorities, as well as from the company seeking advice, or making contributions to the authorities in cases where the company has relevant information or interests, ”the company wrote.
In Malaysia, the company communicates with various government agencies, including the MACC.
“The information that has been provided to MACC includes information on the organization and structure of the company, and they have also been given access to the Aker Solutions offices in Kuala Lumpur,” the company writes.
According to Reuters, the MACC contacted the Norwegian authorities in June to request assistance and question witnesses in Norway, but this should have been impossible to carry out due to the crown situation.
