PETRONAS Witness Says Former Manager Allegedly Sent Confidential Business Data To PETROS

KUALA LUMPUR, JULY 2026 – A senior PETRONAS manager told the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court that she had received a complaint alleging former PETRONAS manager Mohd Khairul Akmal Mohd Jasni had sent confidential information related to the national oil company’s business and financial structure to Petroleum Sarawak Berhad, or PETROS.

Laila Badriah Razali, 45, who serves as PETRONAS senior manager for Complaint Management, said the complaint was received through the company’s whistleblowing channel via an email from a complainant’s personal email account at 10am on Dec 6, 2024.

According to her witness statement, the complaint alleged that Mohd Khairul Akmal had sent confidential information concerning PETRONAS’ Q1 2024 Upstream Business performance using his personal email to PETROS. The information was allegedly sent to two email addresses on June 8, 2024.

Laila Badriah said PETRONAS only received the complaint on Dec 6, 2024, and had not received any similar complaint before that date, including in June 2024. She was testifying as the fourth prosecution witness in the trial involving Mohd Khairul Akmal.

After receiving the complaint, Laila Badriah said she referred the matter to PETRONAS Chief Integrity Officer Mohamad Zakkuan Talib, who is also chairman of the company’s Whistleblowing Committee. Following a review, Mohamad Zakkuan decided that the complaint should be referred to the Human Resource-Industrial Relations department for further investigation.

During examination-in-chief by Deputy Public Prosecutor Noor Syafina Mohd Radzuan, Laila Badriah said she later sent an email to Wardati and Jumsuri, including former PETRONAS senior industrial relations manager Jumsuri Basri, on Dec 6, 2024, at about 12.36pm.

The court also heard that the complainant had initially submitted a similar complaint on June 8, 2024, but the email was recalled before the whistleblowing secretariat registered the case. Laila Badriah explained that although the original email record showed June 8, PETRONAS only received the email on Dec 6 because the earlier email had been recalled.

During cross-examination by defence lawyer Louis Liaw Vern Xien, who represented Mohd Khairul Akmal, the witness said she did not ask the complainant why the June 8 complaint had been withdrawn. She also agreed with the defence that the complaint should have been made in June 2024 rather than several months later.

Mohd Khairul Akmal, 41, is accused of attempting to disclose a document titled “Q1 2024 Upstream Business Performance Operational & Financial” to PETROS. The document was allegedly obtained while he was serving as Business Unit Performance Manager at PETRONAS.

The alleged offence was said to have taken place at a condominium unit on Jalan Pinang, Kuala Lumpur, between 3.19pm and 3.21pm on June 8, 2024. The charge was framed under Section 203A(1) of the Penal Code, read together with Section 511 of the same code.

If convicted, Section 203A(1) provides for a maximum fine of RM1 million or imprisonment of up to one year, while Section 511 carries a penalty of imprisonment not exceeding half of the maximum term under the principal offence. The trial before Judge Mazuliana Abdul Rashid is scheduled to continue on Sept 22.