Natwest chair says he ‘deeply regrets’ time at Petrosaudi after £1.3bn ‘scam of the century’

Natwest chairman Rick Haythornthwaite has expressed his regret and sadness for his role at the UK arm of oil company Petrosaudi, which was involved in a £1.37bn “scam of the century” against Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund.

Haythornthwaite said he took the role “in good faith” without knowing the existence of the fraud, which channelled money away from investment in Malaysia’s public development projects to two executives at the firm.

“I entered the role in good faith to help build a legitimate UK subsidiary oil operation, and it is a source of profound disappointment that, at some point unknown, the two directors embarked on a path of serious misconduct at the parent company level,” he told The Telegraph.

“The many years of investigation have shown they were highly sophisticated at hiding the truth, and with the benefit of hindsight, I would not have got involved with this organisation. Besides the egregious breach of trust at the centre of this matter, I am left with a feeling of sadness for the impact that these crimes have had on many others,” he added.

His work at Petrosaudi has come under further scrutiny after a Swiss court found its executive Tarek Obaid and Patrick Mahony guilty of embezzling more than $1.8bn (£1.37bn). Obaid was sentenced to seven years in prison while Mahony got six years.

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has also been jailed for his role in the complex international financial scandal, although his sentence was recently reduced from 12 years to six.

Haythornthwaite, who also chairs Ocado and AA, has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

However, there has been renewed scrutiny on his decision to join Petrosaudi, the nature of his work there and his choice to remain as long as he did.

Last week, the FT reported that he had told Natwest he worked as a part-time adviser for a UK subsidiary of Petrosaudi for just one to three hours a week between 2008 and 2016, although official documents showed he worked at least two and a half days a week with the title of chief operating officer.

Haythornthwaite succeeded Sir Howard Davies as chair of Natwest in April after a rocky period for the bank following the exit of chief executive Alison Rose, who resigned after discussing details of Nigel Farage’s bank account with a BBC journalist.