The payment was for “support and coordination services” in relation to the deal, but the company was only set up in 2001, a few months before the deal was signed, and had no relevant experience or expertise in managing this type of project. The biggest suspicious payment was of EUR 114 million to Perimekar, a Malaysian company of which Baginda’s wife was the primary shareholder. Wikimedia/Creative Commons, Outisnn.Ĭorruption allegations center on the role of a key agent for the deal, businessman Abdul Razak Baginda, a close associate of Malaysia’s defence minister at the time, Najib Razak. Corruption Allegations The Scorpène-class “Tun Razak,” destined for the Malaysian Navy, at the shipyard of Navantia-Cartagena, Spain, in October 2009. A second-hand Agosta submarine was also included in the deal. One of the Malaysian Scorpène submarines was produced in France, the other in Spain.
In 2007, Thales swapped its direct investment in the Armaris joint venture for a stake in DCN itself since 2011, the French shipbuilder has been 35% owned by Thales. Armaris, a joint-venture between DCN and Thales, would be the prime contractor for this sale while Navantia would serve as a design and industrial contracting partner. In 2002, Malaysia agreed to purchase for EUR 1 billion two Scorpène submarines from Direction des Constructions Navales (DCN, now renamed Naval Group) of France and Navantia of Spain. The Arms Dealīeginning in the 1990s, Malaysia opened tenders for a number of major military acquisition programs, including tanks, jets, and naval systems. The appeals court’s judgment was itself overturned in 2015 by the Federal Court, leading to reinstatement of the death penalty against both.īernard Baiocco - former president of the Asian division of Thales (which owned a 50% share of prime contractor Armaris and now an indirect share through a stake in DCNS) suspected by French magistrates of paying bribes in relation to the deal.ĭominique Castellan - former president of the international branch of DCNS suspected by French magistrates of paying bribes in relation to the deal. An appeals court overturned the verdict and freed them in 2014, whereupon Sirul Azhar Omar fled to Australia.
Getty Images/AFP, Saeed Khan.Ībdul Razak Baginda - former director of the Malaysian Strategic Research Center suspected Malaysian agent for DCNS and controller of companies used to funnel commissions.Īltantuya Shaaribuu - Mongolian translator, formerly in a relationship with Baginda assisted with the deal and was murdered in 2006.Īzilah Hadridan and Sirul Azhar Omar - Malaysian police Special Action Unit officers, bodyguards to Najib Razak convicted in 2008 of the murder of Altantuya Shaaribuu. Najib Razak - Malaysia’s defence minister (1999-2008) when the deal was signed, later prime minister (2009-2018).Ībdul Razak Baginda escorted into a courtroom by police in Shah Alam, Malaysia, on October 31, 2008. Sum involved in corruption allegations: EUR 146.5 million Dramatis Personae
The Equipment Sold: 2 Scorpene submarines, 1 Agosta submarine, second-hand DCNS, the French shipbuilding company, was raided in 2010, and it eventually became clear that the company was under scrutiny for operating a chain of intermediaries to bribe Razak and the agent, Abdul Razak Baginda, in violation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Convention on Bribery and its corresponding law in France. With investigations in Malaysia stymied by the political implications, momentum shifted to France.
#HUMAN POWERED SUBMARINE FOR SALE TRIAL#
The subsequent murder trial implicated members of the domestic police’s special intelligence branch, who may have served the defense minister and future prime minister Najib Razak as bodyguards. The victim, who had worked for a key agent on the deal, was targeted when she attempted to get her share of the commissions. The EUR 1.2 billion sale of French ‘Scorpène’ submarines to Malaysia in 2002, and the dubious commissions which accompanied the sale, might have gone unnoticed were it not for the kidnap and murder of a young translator in 2006.
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