KUALA LUMPUR (May 20): The US Justice Department charged three ex-employees of Telekom Malaysia Bhd (KL:TM) for misappropriation involving nearly RM80 million of the company’s funds.
Mohd Hafiz Lockman, Mohd Yuzaimi Yusof, and Khanh Thuong Nguyen — formerly attached to the company’s wholly owned US subsidiary — were indicted for wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft, according to a statement from the Justice Department.
“The defendants used false statements, forged records, fictitious transactions, and corporate and individual impersonations to deceive counterparties, suppliers, auditors, and supervisors,” the department said.
The case centres on an alleged scheme to divert more than US$20 million of company funds through four interconnected frauds.
The fraud was uncovered during Telekom Malaysia’s internal investigation of the American subsidiary and the trio.
Telekom Malaysia self-reported the conduct to the US Attorney’s Office, the Justice Department said, noting that the company itself will not be charged based on the full cooperation, restitution, and remediation of harm.
Mohd Hafiz was arrested on April 20, 2026 at San Francisco International Airport, while Nguyen and Mohd Yuzaimi surrendered to authorities on April 22 and April 23.
“These three individuals are alleged to have conducted a deliberate and calculated embezzlement scheme, falsifying corporate records for their own financial benefit,” said James C Barnacle Jr, the assistant director in charge at the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
If found guilty, the trio faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each count of the wire fraud conspiracy and wire fraud, while the aggravated identity theft charge carries a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years in prison.
The company will continue to cooperate fully with the Justice Department while the matter is in the US court, Telekom Malaysia said in a statement. “TM upholds strict governance and compliance standards and does not tolerate any form of misconduct,” it added.