KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad mentioned on Thursday
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 6 (Reuters) – Malaysian Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad mentioned on Thursday funds acquired to offset
the prices of a high-value order couldn’t be constituted as a
bribe.
Mahathir was replying to questions by reporters on the
controversial sponsorship deal that executives of Malaysia’s
AirAsia Group Bhd struck with the price range service’s
sole aircraft provider Airbus .
Britain’s Critical Fraud Workplace (SFO) mentioned final week that the
European plane producer paid a bribe of $50 million to
executives of AirAsia and its long-haul arm AirAsia X
to win aircraft orders. [nL8N2A05NJ]
AirAsia is the world’s largest buyer of the A321neo
single-aisle plane and runs an all-Airbus fleet of 274
planes.
AirAsia co-founders Tony Fernandes and Kamarudin Meranun
have each denied wrongdoing and relinquished their govt
roles for not less than two months whereas the SFO’s allegations are
probed. [nL4N2A30JW]
Requested about Britain’s investigation into the case, Mahathir
mentioned he wouldn’t pronounce a verdict, however that any association
must be thought-about as a quid professional quo deal.
“Usually when governments purchase tools, we all the time ask for an
offset…If we are able to get one thing as a result of we purchase one thing at a
excessive worth, why cannot we settle for it?” he informed reporters.
…