KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia Group Bhd has reinstated Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin Meranun as CEO and executive chairman respectively, following the release of the findings by BDO Governance Advisory Sdn Bhd into bribery allegations levelled against AirAsia and AirAsia X Bhd.
Consequently, the appointment of Tharumalingam Kanagalingam as the acting CEO has been rescinded.
In a Bursa filing today, the group said BDO had presented its independent internal inquiry findings to the non-executive independent board committee on March 19.
The findings state that AirAsia had complied with its procurement process and that the group’s aircraft acquisition was justifiable and done at favourable prices.
“AirAsia’s sponsorship of the sports team was approved in compliance with its procedures.
“The sponsorship of the sports team by Airbus was disclosed to and supported by AirAsia’s board of directors at the relevant time. The sponsorship showed demonstrable benefits to the AirAsia Group and was not linked to any purchase decisions by AirAsia,” it added.
Meanwhile, it was also found that both Fernandes and Kamarudin had properly disclosed their interests to AirAsia’s board and abstained from discussions and/or decisions relating to said sponsorships.
To recap, on Jan 31, the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) had published a statement of facts regarding its graft probe into Airbus, which implicated two executives from the AirAsia Group as receiving Airbus sponsorship for a sporting team in exchange for aircraft.
Following this, both AirAsia and AirAsia X formed committees comprising non-executive board members to review the allegations levelled against them by Airbus SE and the SFO.
Fernandes and Kamarudin also relinquished their executive positions within the group for a period of two months, or for a period deemed fit by the company.
BDO was hired on Feb 11 as an independent expert to assist with the internal inquiry.
At 2.26pm, AirAsia shares were 4.5 sen or 8.65% up at 56.6 sen, while AirAsia X was unchanged at 4 sen.
source https://www.thesundaily.my/business/airasia-reinstates-fernandes-kamarudin-to-board-EE2161556
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