Reports: Thales charged in France over Najib-linked submarine deal
Najib Abdul Razak was the defence minister when the deal was signed. His close confidante at the time, Abdul Razak Baginda, had acted as an adviser on the purchase.
AFP cited sources close to the inquiry as confirming the charges.
Prosecutors are waiting for...
Defence group Thales has reportedly been charged by a French judge for complicity in bribery over a 2002 sale of submarines to Malaysia.
Najib Abdul Razak was the defence minister when the deal was signed. His close confidante at the time, Abdul Razak Baginda, had acted as an adviser on the purchase.
AFP cited sources close to the inquiry as confirming the charges.
Prosecutors are waiting for requests from the judge on whether to take the case to trial.
Meanwhile, Reuters quoted Thales confirming that the company and several individuals were put under investigation.
“In France, being put under formal investigation means there is serious or consistent evidence that points to likely involvement of a suspect in a crime. It does not necessarily lead to a trial,” the report noted.
However, Thales reportedly told Reuters in an email it “strongly contests” the charges.
It said it has asked the Paris Appeals court to cancel the investigation.
Razak Baginda had been charged in France in 2017 with “active and passive complicity in corruption” and “misappropriation of corporate assets.” However, the passive corruption charge was later dropped.
He had the year before admitted to receiving around €30 million for consultancy services in the deal, but denied that any funds were used to bribe government officials.
The government during Najib's tenure had denied any corruption in the deal.
The MACC had in 2018 questioned Najib about the Scorpene deal, but no charges were filed.
Muda vice-president Zaidel Baharuddin, in a brief statement today, urged authorities to reopen investigations into the Scorpene deal, saying there was clear wrongdoing involving Malaysia.
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