Two magistrates have been nominated in Paris to investigate the politically explosive 2002 purchase of Scorpene submarines by the Malaysia when Najib Razak was defense minister.

The case focuses on a 1.2 billion euro (RM4.84 billion) contract called a “programme soumalais” with the state-owned French defense giant DCNS, formerly known as DCN. The contract was later transferred to Armaris, a joint venture between DCNS and the French company Thales.

In questioning in the Dewan Rakyat, the Malaysian Parliament, it transpired that a 114 million euro (RM460 million at current exchange rates) commission had been paid to a newly-minted company called Perimekar, nominally owned by the wife of one of Najib’s best friends, Abdul Razak Baginda, then the head of a Malaysian think-tank.

It is likely to take several years before the case comes to fruition.

In the meantime Najib, now Malaysia’s prime minister and head of Umno, the country’s biggest political party, is preparing for snap elections, possibly in May or June, according to political observers in Kuala Lumpur.