COMMENT | Is MACC finally pursuing the Scorpene scammers?
COMMENT | I have just been served a notice to give a written statement to MACC officers on July 28 at noon at Suaram’s office. The officer told me yesterday it concerns the Scorpene corruption case that has been an on-going judicial investigation in France since 2012.
The RM7 billion Scorpene deal - RM5 billion for hardware, RM2 billion for training and maintenance - was signed in 2002 when Malaysia’s prime minister was Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Najib Abdul Razak was his defence minister.
Then there was the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2006 and the fact that the motive for her murder was not investigated in the murder trial, even though allegations had surfaced regarding suspected bribery of Malaysian officials by...
COMMENT | I have just been served a notice to give a written statement to MACC officers on July 28 at noon at Suaram’s office. The officer told me yesterday it concerns the Scorpene corruption case that has been an on-going judicial investigation in France since 2012.
The RM7 billion Scorpene deal - RM5 billion for hardware, RM2 billion for training and maintenance - was signed in 2002 when Malaysia’s prime minister was Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Najib Abdul Razak was his defence minister.
Then, there was the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2006 and the fact that the motive for her murder was not investigated in the murder trial, even though allegations had surfaced regarding suspected bribery of Malaysian officials by DCN, the French company that had sold two Scorpene submarines to Malaysia for US$1 billion (RM4.26 billion).
Besides, €114 million (RM618.95 million) was reportedly paid to a shell company of Razak Baginda, a confidant of Najib. It was on these grounds that Suaram made a complaint to the French judiciary on Nov 19, 2009.
Suaram’s complaint to the French authorities started a preliminary inquiry and a judicial investigation opened in Paris in 2012. Then, on April 19, 2012, I, on behalf of Suaram, was asked to make a presentation before the judge at the Court de Grand Instance de Paris.
Searches by the French police at Thales and DCN offices had led to the seizure of numerous documents. According to documents obtained by Asia Sentinel in 2013, then French finance minister Alain Juppe and Mahathir were aware of bribes having been made.
After six long years of investigations, this first indictment on Dec 15, 2015, of the arms maker DCN showed that Suaram’s suspicion of commissions paid to Malaysian officials in the Scorpene deal was well-founded and was vindicated. Bernard Baiocco, the former president of Thales International Asia (Thint Asia), a subsidiary of DCN, was indicted before magistrate Roger Le Loire on Dec 15, 2016, for “active bribery of foreign public officials”, including Najib and Razak Baginda.
The former boss of Thint Asia, together with the Directorate of Naval Construction (DCN), which made the submarines, was also indicted for complicity in misuse of corporate assets.
The French judges had been examining contracts which they suspected of being used to pay for bribes. One of this involved payment of €30 million (RM162.84 million) by DCNI, a subsidiary of DCN to Thales International Asia, in respect of “selling expenses for export”. The French judicial investigations also showed that another company, Terasasi, whose main shareholder was Razak Baginda, was paid almost the same amount for consultations.
Investigators suspect these so-called “consultations” to be a front for bribes. In the investigations, another contract provided for the payment of €114 million (RM618.79 million) to the Malaysian company Perimekar, the main contractor of the Scorpene deal.
The Scorpene scandal was fuelled by the gruesome murder of Mongolian intermediary, Altantuya Shaariibuu, in 2006. According to the testimony of Razak Baginda’s private investigator, Altantuya was linked to Razak Baginda and she had been harassing him for a portion of the commission that had been promised her.
In a cautioned statement, one of the two persons charged with Altantuya’s murder, Sirul Azhar, told authorities he and another policeman, Azilah Hadri, had been offered RM100,000 to kill the woman.
On Aug 4, 2017, Razak Baginda was placed under formal investigation by the French judiciary. With the latest indictment of Razak Baginda by the French court, justice demands that nothing short of a full public inquiry into the Altantuya murder and the motive for her murder will suffice. This extends beyond the remit of the MACC.
This inquiry must include an investigation into the allegations of commissions paid for the purchase of the Scorpene submarines. The prosecution of the case has been tardy from the start, with the failure to establish the motive for Altantuya’s murder being the most questionable of all.
Razak Baginda’s affidavit in the trial had also maintained that “Azilah was responsible for the death of about six or more people and he would be able to help”, according to the political analyst. To date, we have had no adequate response from the Malaysian police to such a shocking revelation and whether a full-scale investigation has been launched to find out just who these “six or more” apparently victims of extrajudicial killings are.
I am sure Malaysians are encouraged by the fact that, nearly 20 years after the signing of the Scorpene contracts, the MACC has decided to pursue the scammers involved in the Scorpene scandal. We can only say bonne chance with the investigations, MACC!
KUA KIA SOONG is Suaram advisor.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
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