by Ganesh Sahathevan
AirAsiaX goes for Rolls-Royce enginesFrom left: Datuk Tony Fernandes, Datuk Kallimulah Hassan, Sir John Rose and Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy – Bernama
So , the latest from Choirboy Tony Tajuddin Fernandes admitting to things which should if true have been brought to the attention of the market a long time ago.This is but the latest in a long history of market misinformation, aided and abetted by the Securities Commission and its chairman, Ranjit Ajit Singh:
“So foolishly I thought by doing the video, which I felt was fairly neutral and factual, and the plane from KK, would appease the government and protect the jobs of Allstars, and more importantly the very essence of allowing 18 million to people to fly every year at low fares,” said Fernandes, in reference to the A330-300 aircraft in the video which had flown Najib from Sabah back to the federal capital.
“Under the intense pressure I buckled. It wasn’t right... I will forever regret it, but it was a decision made at the spur of the moment to protect that baby that has given so much to Malaysia,” he said referring to his baby, AirAsia.
“AirAsia is in a very regulated industry, an industry where almost everything requires the approval of the government — from flights, to airport taxes, to routes — and so it is never very easy running an airline and one must always support the government of the day.”
https://www.facebook.com/tonyfernandes/videos/1323162101116958/?t=0
Meanwhile , there is this outstanding matter:
UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has named AirAsia Group as one of several foreign parties involved in bribery cases with jet engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce PLC.
AirAsia Group, in an immediate response, told Malaysiakini that it had complied with procedures in its dealing with Rolls-Royce.
The bribery in the AirAsia deal was one of 12 charges brought against Rolls-Royce after a four-year investigation into its dealings with clients in Indonesia, Thailand, India, Russia, China and Malaysia.
Rolls-Royce, in a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the SFO on Tuesday, agreed to a disgorgement of 258.17 million pounds (RM1.42 billion) in illegal profits and an additional 239.08 million pounds (RM1.32 bilion) in financial penalty.
The profit disgorged from Rolls Royce's deal with AirAsia amounted to 17.08 million pounds (RM94.03 million).
In his judgment over the matter, Queen's Bench Division president Brian Leveson said that Rolls-Royce employees "took steps to pressure both junior sales and internal compliance personnel to create and approve corrupt arrangements" in the Malaysia case.
According to the Statement of Facts filed with the Crown Court at Southwark, Rolls-Royce failed to prevent its employees from providing an AirAsia Group executive with credits worth US$3.2 million (RM14.2 million) for the maintenance of a private jet.
This was despite Rolls-Royce employees believing that the credits would lead the AirAsia Group executive to perform his function "improperly".
"This financial advantage was given at the request of the AirAsia group executive, in return for showing favour towards Rolls-Royce in the purchase of products and services provided by Rolls-Royce and its subsidiaries, including Total Care Agreement services to be supplied to AirAsia X, a subsidiary of AirAsia Group," it said.
The document said the credits for the private jet used by the AirAsia group executive was solicited through an AirAsia X senior employee in 2011.
It also alleged that there was an attempt to conceal the fact that the credits, given to AirAsia X in 2013, would be used for the the private jet, which was unrelated to the AirAsia Group.
The document did not name who the AirAsia Group executive was.
AirAsia denies deal was concealed
AirAsia Group head of communications Audrey Progastama Petriny, in a statement to Malaysiakini, said AirAsia and AirAsia X board of directors and management were kept informed at all times of the transactions relating to the jet.
"The upkeep for which was also clearly spelt out in the annual reports for both companies and AirAsia X initial public offering prospectus," she said.
Petriny said the credits were obtained according to procedure and used to offset the operational costs of the corporate jet which was used by senior AirAsia X executives for business travel.
"The cost of maintaining and operating the aircraft has been fully borne by AirAsia and AirAsia X.
"AirAsia Berhad has acquired the aircraft in 2016 as announced on the Malaysian bourse," she said.
In June last year, AirAsia Berhad reportedly purchased a Bombardier BD-700-1A10 Global Express which had been used by AirAsia Berhad executive chairperson Kamarudin Meranun and group chief executive officer Tony Fernandes since 2012.
The private jet (photo) was purchased from Caterhamjet Global Ltd (CJG), a company in which Kamaruddin and Fernandes held a 18.56 percent indirect stake and is also a member of the Tune group.
According to the details of the case, an AirAsia X senior employee had approached a Rolls-Royce employee in August 2011 about the maintenance of a new private jet which the AirAsia Group executive was planning to purchase.
In November 2011, a Rolls Royce senior employee who met with the AirAsia Group executive reported that the latter was "very offended" due to the high Corporate Care rate that was offered for his new Global jet...
The AirAsia press statement includes a number of admissions that require, at minimum , an investigation into AA's management.
Note that Choirboy's "group chief executive officer" designation has no basis whatsoever , unless of of course Aireen wants to admit that her position is redundant, in which case she ought to resign, but not before her role in the matters below are properly investigated, and she and others brought to book.
SEE ALSO
AirAsia buys bosses’ plane
The purchase, the low-cost carrier said, would enable Kamarudin(left) and Fernandes(right) to continue enjoying the benefits of flying private, while at the same time, saving the company some money.
PETALING JAYA: AirAsia Bhd is buying Tune Group Sdn Bhd’s private jet plane, used primarily by its executive chairman Datuk Kamarudin Meranun and group chief executive officer (CEO) Tan Sri Tony Fernandes to carry out their airline business, for US$10mil (RM40.26mil).
The purchase, the low-cost carrier said, would enable Kamarudin and Fernandes to continue enjoying the benefits of flying private, while at the same time, saving the company some money.
In a statement to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, AirAsia said the private jet would be paid for in cash from the company’s internally available funds.
AirAsia entered into a deal with Caterhamjet Global Ltd (CJG) for the acquisition of one unit of Bombardier BD-700-1A10 Global Express 9M-CJG yesterday.
CJG is a unit of Tune Group, which was founded by Kamarudin and Fernandes.
CJG had purchased the aircraft for US$24mil on July 6, 2012 and refurbished the aircraft for US$0.7mil the subsequent year.
It added that private jet prices in Asia have declined over the past two years since the slowdown in the regional economy, which makes Global Express relatively cheap to acquire at the moment.
“Acquiring Global Express and bringing the flight and maintenance crew back into AirAsia would allow the company to save on this additional cost,” it said.
Kamarudin and Fernandes have been using the jet since 2012.
“As CJG is planning to sell the jet, the loss of the aircraft would mean that the executive chairman (Kamarudin) and the group CEO (Fernandes) will no longer be able to benefit from the convenience and efficient transport provided by Global Express when travelling to AirAsia’s associates for work, as they would have to rely on commercial flights which may be infrequent or inconveniently-timed,” it said.
AirAsia said that this would result in significant loss of productivity due to inefficient waiting times, especially with the high volume and frequency of travel undertaken by Kamarudin and Fernandes.
“Flying commercial would also mean that the executive chairman and the group CEO would not be able to conduct business discussions or hold meetings with senior management as they currently do in the private space of Global Express, adding to the inefficiency,” it added.
It also said the current commercial agreement with Tune Group was not efficiently structured, as AirAsiahad to pay the salaries of the staff it had seconded to Tune Group to operate Global Express, incurring the goods and services tax in the process.
“Absorbing the staff would also allow them to be better utilised, as they can be deployed to other operational functions within AirAsia and not just those associated with Global Express,” it said.
AirAsia said it would be able to leverage on its size and relationship with vendors and suppliers, especially those related to the aircraft components and maintenance, to potentially lower operating costs further.
