The group Centre to Corruption and Cronyism (C4) is reviving the Scorpene submarines issue ahead of the much anticipated 14th general election. 

To do this, it published bilingual A3-sized fact sheets explaining the scandal.

It includes an explanation of the players involved in the alleged kickbacks involved in the purchase of the two Scorpene-class submarines, why the French had launched a judicial inquiry into the case, and a timeline of the court proceedings.

“We want to bring back the scandal to remind everyone. This was the hottest thing in the 13th general election, but we’ve now been overwhelmed by too many scandals and we’ve have forgotten this one.

“It is (still) unresolved. Basically, no one has been brought to book. We are very disappointed that we had to keep relying on foreign jurisdictions to tell Malaysians that a malfeasance had actually gone so far and why that action has been taken somewhere else but not here,” said C4 director Cynthia Gabriel (photo).

She was speaking to reporters at the Parliament’s press room after holding a briefing with MPs on the issue.

Cynthia said several MPs had pledged to bring some of the fact sheets back to their constituencies for distribution.

C4 had printed 10,000 copies of the fact sheets so far, she added, and there are plans to produce more to be distributed to members of the public.

French authorities had been conducting a judicial inquiry on the approximately €1 billion purchase of the two submarines, which had since been commissioned by the Royal Malaysian Navy as KD Tunku Abdul Rahman and KD Tun Abdul Razak.

The inquiry is part of a wider investigation on France's Direction des Constructions Navales (DCN) for allegedly giving kickbacks to secure arms deals with several countries, including Malaysia.

Razak Baginda indicted

The French Tribunal deGrande Instance had indicted political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda for alleged "active and passive corruption" on July 18 last year.

Abdul Razak is a close associate to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who was defence minister at the time of the Scorpene deal.

On Nov 1 last year, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Paul Low had told the Dewan Rakyat that the MACC had already completed its investigation on Abdul Razak (photo). 

Under Section 66(1) of the MACC Act 2009, the commission is empowered to conduct criminal proceedings against Malaysian citizens and permanent residents for offences allegedly conducted abroad.

Meanwhile, Cynthia said proceedings in France are still ongoing and there may be more indictments before the case is transferred to a higher court for a full trial.

She said the court is now investigating the alleged money laundering that took place in Hong Kong, and it is now believed that there are other companies involved apart from the Terasasi Sdn Bhd.

Terasasi, which allegedly received millions in “consultation fees”, is a Hong Kong-based company owned by Abdul Razak and his father.

In addition, Cynthia said French authorities also investigating whether Abdul Razak was operating as a public official in the Scorpene deal, or as a friend of Najib.

The court is also investigating whether Abdul Razak had used undue influence to help cement the deal, she added.

In the French two-tiered legal system, an examining magistrate may carry pre-trial investigations and may then recommend prosecution for those indicted in a case.

A prosecution will then see the case transferred from the examining magistrate to an open court where a trial will commence.

For the record, the Defence Ministry had denied any wrongdoing in the Scorpene deal.