Ranhill Denies Link to Unaoil

Ranhill Holdings Bhd. is a Malaysian company. Recently it has denied being involved in the Unaoil bribery scandal. The following is a photograph of a recent newspaper report (source: The Sun Daily, 6th April 2016.)

The recent statement from Ranhill Holdings Bhd. reads as follows: "....we wish to clarify and confirm that neither Ranhill Holdings Bhd nor any of its group of companies has entered into any transaction or arrangement with Unaoil. We wish to further clarify that at Ranhill, we have due process prescribed in the forms of policies and procedures in regards to engagement of third parties that include due diligence process and we practise code of conduct and good business ethics."

For the curious readers, they may like to read the article linking Ranhill to Unaoil (article by The Age, Australia). 

My Thoughts on the Matter

Here is my advice to Ranhill: The right response would be to demand that The Age withdraw its statement from the offending article and publish an unreserved apology in a major newspaper in Malaysia, or better yet, in its own newspaper. If The Age fails to respond, sue them. 

I hope that Ranhill takes steps to prove its innocence by taking The Age to court. It would be better for Ranhill. Malaysians want to see this kind of action, the type where the victim proves his innocence by taking legal action. 

A certain prominent Malaysian politician has recently failed to sue an international newspaper, despite the amount of lies (allegedly) that the newspaper has published about the said politician. "We are innocent, we know it, let them say what they want." This kind of reasoning doesn't work anymore, and in this new age reputation management is important for maintaining the public's trust.

Update: Petronas Named

Petronas have been implicated in the Unaoil scandal as well. The original article which named Petronas is at The Age Australia, Unaoil: Dark Secrets of Asian Powers. The Age named Petrofac (UK) as the Unaoil client.

Unfortunately due to a paywall I was unable to access an article in the Edge. However thanks to a certain M.A. Wind, blogging about corporate governance in Malaysia, we know that Petronas responded as follows:

“Petronas takes the allegations very seriously,” the statement read. “The company has a zero-tolerance policy against all forms of bribery and corruption and expressly prohibits improper solicitation, bribery and other corrupt activity by employees, directors and third parties performing work or services for or on behalf of companies in the Petronas group.”

Thanks Mr. Wind.