KUALA LUMPUR (June 25): A former senior manager for industrial relations with Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) told the Sessions Court on Thursday that a now-former manager of the national oil company had leaked confidential documents to two senior Petroleum Sarawak Bhd (Petros) officers in June 2024.

Jumsuri Basri, 48, said that at about 12.41pm on Dec 6, 2024, at the PETRONAS Twin Towers office, he was informed by a PETRONAS staff that one Mohd Khairul Akmal Jasni had allegedly leaked confidential PETRONAS information to rival petroleum company Petros.

“A check revealed that on June 8, 2024, at about 3:19pm, he (Mohd Khairul) had sent the confidential document titled ‘Q1 2024 Upstream Business Performance’ via his [work] email to these addresses, [email protected] and [email protected].”

“[At the time], Khairul Akmal held the post as manager [of the Business Performance Unit] PETRONAS and was responsible for managing and gathering the financial report for Upstream activities domestically and abroad,” Jumsuri said.

The witness said that the action of revealing the business information and PETRONAS’ financial structure by the accused could cause harm to Malaysia’s interests.

“I believe the documents were entrusted to Khairul as he is the manager of [the Business Performance Unit],” he added.

Although the actual names of the Petros recipients were revealed in court, no designations were mentioned. However, a search on the Petros website reveals them to be Datuk Janin Girie, who is currently Petros group chief executive officer (group CEO), and Mohd Azha Abdul Jalil, who is currently the Petros chief financial officer (CFO).

PETRONAS and Petros are currently embroiled in the control of the oil and gas industry in Sarawak, following Petros’ formation in 2017 which culminated in an on-going dispute that has entered the Federal Court.

Jumsuri, who had been with the national oil company from 2005 to 2025, added that PETRONAS Cybersecurity also verified that Khairul Akmal had sent the document to Petros, and further checks revealed that he had tried to send the email earlier at 7:19am but failed as the file was too big.

Jumsuri said he received information of the leak from a representative of PETRONAS’ whistleblowing committee (WBC) on Dec 6, 2024, when a member of the committee, one Lailatul Badriah, informed him of this.

As a result of the information, the witness said he informed the Human Resources Department, PETRONAS Finance and PETRONAS Cybersecurity.

Jumsuri said subsequently, Khairul Akmal was suspended from duty from Dec 9, 2024, until Feb 8, 2025.

Jumsuri later lodged a police report over the leak at the Dang Wangi police station on the afternoon of Dec 10, 2024, as this was a serious breach of confidentiality.

The witness said the report was lodged as it involves PETRONAS interests, and the company is also a Malaysian-owned entity. He added that the dissemination of confidential information could affect PETRONAS’ financial standing and would have an impact on the country’s finances.

Furthermore, Jumsuri said that every PETRONAS staff is bound by the Conduct of Business Ethics (CoBE), with staff warned that disciplinary action can be taken against them for disseminating confidential company information.

The witness, who is the first prosecution witness, was testifying in Khairul Akmal’s trial where he is accused of attempting to leak the document to Petros at Marc Service Residence, Jalan Pinang, between 3:19pm and 3:21pm on June 8, 2024.

The accused is charged under Section 203A(1) read together with Section 511 of the Penal Code, for attempting to reveal information during official duty. If found guilty, he is liable to imprisonment of up to one year, a fine of not more than RM1 million, or both.

Earlier, deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Noor Syafina Mohamad Radzuan informed Sessions Court judge Mazuliana Abdul Rashid that Khairul Akmal had sent a representation letter to the prosecution, but this was rejected by the Attorney General’s Chambers on May 8, this year, and hence, the prosecution wanted to proceed with the trial.

When cross-examined by defence counsel Louis Liaw, Jumsuri said he agreed that there was a discrepancy in the suspension letter he had given to Khairul Akmal and the police report lodged, where in the suspension letter, it was stated that there had been an attempt by the accused to disseminate confidential information, while in the police report, it states that the accused had sent the information to Petros.

The witness said that following Khairul Akmal’s suspension, his laptop was returned to PETRONAS, and it was then sent to a third party for forensic investigation, but Jumsuri was unable to recall the company.

Jumsuri agreed that in the show cause reply by Khairul Akmal, the accused had stated that his laptop was not with him on June 8, 2024, as he was on holiday in Penang, and it had been kept with another staff.

However, Jumsuri disagreed with Liaw that he had not taken this into consideration with regards to the accused’s defence.

“I rely on the balance of probabilities. There is a possibility that Khairul Akmal had access to the email elsewhere and sent it, as it shows the origin was from the accused,” the witness said.

Liaw suggested the possibility that another person who had access to Khairul Akmal’s laptop or email had sent the purported email, but Jumsuri disagreed.

Jumsuri added that Khairul Akmal’s case was discussed within a PETRONAS committee that was set up for the matter, and it also contained the acting head of Industrial Relations (Wardatie), the head of the legal department (Zaitun), the head of human capital (Akmal Liza) and himself, along with other members.

In the end, the committee decided to continue with the suspension, and Jumsuri also recognised that Khairul Akmal had also appealed the decision.

However, the witness does not know the outcome of the accused’s appeal.

Jumsuri denied that he had wrongly lodged the police report, resulting in Khairul Akmal’s criminal charge, and that PETRONAS has an agenda to find fault with Liaw’s client.

Despite Khairul Akmal’s suspension until Feb 8, 2025, the accused was sacked by PETRONAS on Dec 20, 2024.

On re-examination by DPP Noor Syafina, the witness explained that he does not think that other people besides Khairul Akmal had sent the email, as no one else knows the password and where to search for the confidential document, to which only the accused had access.

“Such emails can be sent via handphone, laptop, or even tab, and the person who sent it must know where to search for that document,” he added.

The hearing continues before Mazuliana on Friday.