SCORPENE SUBMARINE SCANDAL -
THE GREAT MALAYSIAN ROBBERY
3 MAY 2012
SUARAM PRESS RELEASE
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The SUARAM delegation comprising Kua Kia Soong, Cynthia Gabriel and Fadiah Nadwa, returned after a successful trip to Paris. |
In the continuing saga of the Ops Scorpene campaign, SUARAM is here today to reveal to you further findings of the ongoing investigations of the French inquiry.As was reported, the SUARAM delegation comprising Kua Kia Soong, Cynthia Gabriel and Fadiah Nadwa, returned after a successful trip to Paris, and a hearing before judge Roger Le Loire, one of the two Instruction Judges assigned to oversee the French inquiry into the controversial purchase of the 2 submarines by the Malaysian government in 2002.
The judge had principally accepted a list of seven proposed witnesses including current Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, former Defence Minister and current Prime Minister Najib Razak, and a central figure in the procurement process, Abdul Razak Baginda as key witnesses that can further assist in the inquiry before the Tribunal de Grande Instance.
Access to the Investigation Papers
SUARAM has gained full access to investigation papers from the Public Prosecutor’s office. This is a huge step forward, as many of the details kept confidential are now made accessible to SUARAM as the Plaintiff in the civil case against the DCNS.
French law provides several constraints on the area of access. While we are not able to obtain a hard copy and distribute copies around, we are however entitled to full view of the documents and are able to quote them to the media and to the public.
It is also to be noted that the complaint lodged by SUARAM has led to the evolution of a criminal investigation which has just commenced which will result in the criminal prosecution of those involved in this corruption scandal. The French, Malaysian officials and the companies involved in the corruption scandal may be put on the suspect list as the criminal case proceeds in the French Court.
Legal Jurisdiction
Judge Le Loire after hearing an elaborate testimony from SUARAM, accepted our statement, and promised to proceed with the inquiry with no stone unturned. On the acceptance of the 7 witnesses proposed by SUARAM, the French judge had asked for the full details of the persons involved, in order to begin issuing subpoenas as he saw fit.
SUARAM lawyer Joseph Breham has further explained that the French courts is able to take on several courses of action, in compelling the Malaysian witnesses to assist in the inquiry and the ongoing investigations.
1. The judge will issue a subpoena in writing on a witness.
2. Once a subpoena is issued, the witness is obliged to appear before the courts and to assist the courts in its works.
3. If the witness refuses to abide by the subpoena, the court can issue a notice “mandate d ‘amener”, compelling the witness to appear before it.
4. If the witness fails to oblige, a warrant of arrest may be issued. The warrant of arrest is applicable within the boundaries of the French territory, and may be internationalized, if the judge deems necessary.
5. A red alert can be sent to INTERPOL, if the situation warrants based on the discretionary powers of the judge.
New Expose and Findings
In today’s media conference we shall focus the expose to two key documents.
1. Document 87
2. Document 144
Document 87
The documents seized by the French police from the office of Mr. Henri GIDE (THALES) on 28 May 2010 which includes a fax written in English and sent by F. DUPONT dated 1 June 2001 addressed to D. ARNAUD, CCed to BAIOCCO and SAUVAGEOT with “MALAYSIA/SUBMARINE PROJECT” as the subject.
Mr. DUPONT detailed out the chronology of visits and future actions during the journey in Malaysia of which there were various planned undertakings in particular negotiation meetings with the Ministry of Defense and the management members of PERIMEKAR during which two (2) contract proposals would be mentioned (from DCNI to PERIMEKAR as well as between PERIMEKAR and the Malaysian Government).
He finally indicated a meeting with DATO’ SRI NAJIB in France on 14 July 2001 with the condition that DCNI offers a maximum sum of USD 1 billion for PERIMEKAR’s stay (in France).
Document 144
The prosecutor’s office upon instructions had received from THALES International Asia, an envelope on 22 August 2011. The envelope contained:
· A sub folder entitled “C4”
· A sub folder entitled “invoices”
· PDF files
· A USB thumb drive
Among the crucial documents was the existence of an invoice faxed by TERASASI Sdn Bhd (Company No.524814-P) on 19 September 2004 to Bernard BAIOCCO the then CEO of THALES International Asia. The invoice stated an amount of Euro 359, 450.00 for the purpose of success fees to be paid to Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad, Branch CP Tower, Seksyen 16, Petaling Jaya, Account No:12109-0-01-3000450-8 and contains a handwritten note in French as follows:
“Razak demande si ce SF peut etre pris en compte assez vite. Le Support Fee suit avec un rapport”.
Translation
Razak requests if that SF can be taken into account quite urgently. The support fee follows with a report.
It therefore appears that Thales International Asia could not ignore that the sum paid to TERASASI Sdn Bhd ultimately benefitted Mr Najib Razak the Minister of Defence and/or his consultant Abdul Razak Baginda.
The Great Malaysian Robbery
It has become apparent that this constitutes one of the Malaysian government’s greatest robberies over its people! It is no longer just the Euro 114.9 million commission to Perimekar that formed the basis of the complaint to the French Courts that is in question.
It has magnified into a web of lies involving a slew of companies formed to complicate the concealment of the blatant robbery of Malaysian and French tax-payers’ money. More retro-commissions have surfaced allowing the misuse of such bodies as the pilgrimage funds (Lembaga Tabung Haji) and the military pension funds (Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera).
The Malaysian and French peoples have been clearly misled, cheated and robbed of their monies through blatant corruption and mismanagement of funds in the name of national secret and security.
SUARAM demands:
1. The MACC to immediately open an investigation in the light of these new revelations by the French Public Prosecutors.
2. The full cooperation of the Malaysian government, both moral and legal, into the ongoing inquiry in France.
3. The Defence Ministry to come clean, and list out to Parliament what other companies were involved in the procurement process and who were the beneficiaries of the kickbacks and commissions.
END
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