Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia revealed today that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is investigating claims that RM575 million was paid as commission to Abdul Razak Baginda as part of the procurement of the French Scorpene submarines.

parliament pandikar amin anwar ibrahim lim kit siang dap pkr pc 121108 07 In a written reply to William Leong (PKR-Selayang), who had submitted a motion to Pandikar yesterday for the Dewan Rakyat to discuss the issue, the Speaker said he was informed that MACC was probing the matter.

“For this reason, the issue is not urgent (to warrant a House debate),” said Pandikar ( left ) in his letter to Leong informing him of the rejection of his motion.   

The government has paid a whopping RM6.7 billion for the French-made submarines.

Out of the total, RM574.8 million went to Perimekar Sdn Bhd, which is owned by Abdul Razak, a known associate of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Najib was defence minister when the deal went through.

M'sia, Najib's image at stake

The government has denied any commission was paid over the procurement of the submarines, saying the amount - which represents 10 percent of the submarines’ total price of RM4.85 billion - was for "coordination and support services provided to the Royal Malaysian Navy".

pkr keadilan weekly pc 280607 william leong The payment is currently being investigated by the French authorities as such “commissions” are illegal under French laws.

Leong ( right ) in his letter to Pandikar said the issue had caught the attention of foreign media due to allegations that Najib was involved in the issue.

“To protect and improve the image of Malaysia and the prime minister himself,” said the opposition lawmaker, who had called for MACC to work with the police to probe the matter.

“Until today, none of the authorities has taken any action to investigate the scandal. A spokesperson from the office of the prime minister had even asserted that there was ‘no case’ to the scandal,” Leong added.