Three former senior employees of Telekom Malaysia (USA) Inc. have been charged with wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft following an alleged scheme to misappropriate over $20 million from the company. Mohd Hafiz Lockman, Mohd Yuzaimi Yusof, and Khanh Thuong Nguyen are accused of diverting company funds through four interconnected frauds, which Telekom Malaysia Berhad self-reported to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in early April 2026.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton announced the unsealing of an Indictment, stating, “Today’s fraud charges come within weeks of receiving a self-report from the company.” He added, “As alleged, Mohd Hafiz Lockman, Mohd Yuzaimi Yusof, and Khanh Thuong Nguyen perpetrated a sprawling fraud to steal over $20 million. The defendants deceived counterparties, suppliers, auditors, and their own supervisors.” FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr., commented, “These three individuals are alleged to have conducted a deliberate and calculated embezzlement scheme, falsifying corporate records for their own financial benefit.”
The alleged scheme, which ran from July 2020 through February 2026, involved selling Telekom Malaysia’s broadband capacity without authorization and diverting proceeds to accounts they controlled. This included creating two versions of contracts for a multinational corporation, one for the customer and a fraudulent one for the parent company, to misappropriate excess capacity. They then sold this capacity to third parties through a sham entity they incorporated.
Further allegations include impersonating a supplier to capture payments intended for that supplier, falsely representing the cost of cable acquisition, and transferring funds to another sham entity they controlled. The defendants also allegedly impersonated employees and interns, causing salaries to be paid into their own bank accounts, even using an individual and an artificial intelligence program to impersonate a departed employee during an exit interview. Additionally, they sought reimbursements for fabricated work expenses, such as a non-existent trip to Las Vegas, which they later staged to create photographic evidence.
Lockman was arrested on April 20, 2026, at San Francisco International Airport, while Nguyen and Yusof surrendered on April 22 and 23, respectively. Telekom Malaysia initiated an internal investigation and, upon discovering the fraud, self-reported the conduct, receiving a conditional declination of charges against the company due to its commitment to full cooperation, restitution, and remediation. The defendants face a maximum sentence of 20 years for wire fraud conspiracy and wire fraud, plus a mandatory consecutive two years for aggravated identity theft.