Three Former Telekom Malaysia US Subsidiary Managers Charged In New York Over RM79.5 Million Fraud

Three former senior managers at Telekom Malaysia (USA) Inc. have been indicted in a Manhattan federal court for allegedly running a massive multi-year embezzlement scheme. The United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced the unsealing of the indictment on Tuesday. The individuals are accused of stealing over US$20 million (approximately RM79.5 million) from the national telecommunications provider using fake invoices, ghost suppliers, and artificial intelligence deepfakes.

The Key Suspects And Serious Federal Charges

The three defendants held top executive roles at the American subsidiary, which handles international broadband infrastructure sales from its offices in California, Nevada, and Virginia.

• Mohd Hafiz Lockman: Former Regional Director of the US subsidiary, arrested at San Francisco International Airport on April 20, 2026.
• Mohd Yuzaimi Yusof: Former Manager of Data Sales, who surrendered to US federal authorities on April 23, 2026.
• Khanh Thuong Nguyen: Another senior personnel member who surrendered to law enforcement on April 22, 2026.

All three individuals face serious federal charges, including wire fraud conspiracy, substantive wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. The criminal case is assigned to US District Judge Dale E. Ho in New York.

Inside The Four Interconnected Fraud Systems

According to court documents filed by the [US Department of Justice] -> (Link to: official press release from the Southern District of New York attorney office), the trio operated a highly organized criminal system from July 2020 through February 2026. The network relied heavily on the fact that the parent company in Kuala Lumpur trusted local management for updates on American transactions.

The dynamic fraud scheme operated across four distinct channels:

• Broadband Capacity Theft: Overstating broadband sales volume to the Malaysian parent company, selling the secret excess to major US technology firms, and funneling the revenue into private accounts.
• Look-Alike Corporate Accounts: Opening unauthorized shell company bank accounts in Manhattan using names almost identical to official corporate entities.
• Fake Supplier Invoices: Creating a ghost company called "Fake Supplier-1" to replicate a real fiber optic cable vendor, allowing the group to charge a six-fold markup and steal RM11.4 million ($2.88 million) on a single transaction.
• Fabricated Business Trips: Requesting corporate reimbursements for fake luxury trips, including a fake December 2025 Las Vegas business trip that never actually took place.

Using AI Deepfakes To Deceive Malaysian HR Managers

The most alarming aspect of the multi-year operation involved the use of advanced digital manipulation to mask internal staff changes from supervisors at the Kuala Lumpur headquarters.

In 2025, an employee at the American office left the company. The defendants hid this resignation for months to keep collecting the salary and benefits. When human resource managers in Malaysia noticed the change and requested a mandatory exit interview via video link, the defendants hired an external actor. They used artificial intelligence software to overlay the departed worker's face onto the imposter during the live video call to fool corporate monitors.

To hide their actions from global auditors, the managers also built a fraudulent website and established fake email servers that closely mimicked the domain names of authentic industry suppliers.

Telekom Malaysia Self-Reports Scandal After Internal Audit

The entire scheme collapsed after Telekom Malaysia Berhad noticed internal financial mismatches and launched an intense forensic investigation into its American operations.

Top executives from the parent group proactively reported the criminal findings to the US Attorney’s Office in early April 2026. Because of this quick action and ongoing cooperation, the company secured a conditional declination of charges from US prosecutors, shielding the public utility company from corporate criminal liability. The stolen funds were allegedly used by the ringleader to pay off personal credit card balances, handle luxury home mortgages, and fund private investment accounts.