The Malaysian Scorpene Submarine Affair. Reprise.

(We are going to be talking about this Malaysian Scorpene Submarine Affair in the coming days now that Sirul has been released from detention at Villawwod. It has been over 17 years since Altanatuya was murdered - so let us refresh our minds as to what the Malaysian Scorpene Submarine Affair is all about ) and in the coming days I will share with you guys what I know, and what you don't know , about this affair.....and together I hope we can make some sense of how and why, Altanatuya was murdered .

World Peace Foundation - November 12, 2020 (updated September 12, 2022)

Page Contents

• Introduction

• Case Details

• Dramatis Personae

• Summary of Corruption Allegations

• Timeline

• Investigation Outcomes

• References
  

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. 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 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.

With investigations in Malaysia stymied by the political implications, momentum shifted to France. 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.

Dramatis Personae

• Najib Razak — Malaysia’s defence minister (1999-2008) when the deal was signed, later prime minister (2009-2018).

• Abdul Razak Baginda — former director of the Malaysian Strategic Research Center; suspected Malaysian agent for DCNS and controller of companies used to funnel commissions.

• Altantuya Shaaribuu — Mongolian translator, formerly in a relationship with Baginda; assisted with the deal and was murdered in 2006.

• Azilah Hadridan and Sirul Azhar Omar — Malaysian police Special Action Unit officers, bodyguards to Najib Razak; convicted in 2008 of the murder of Altantuya Shaaribuu. An appeals court overturned the verdict and freed them in 2014, whereupon Sirul Azhar Omar fled to Australia. The appeals court’s judgment was itself overturned in 2015 by the Federal Court, leading to reinstatement of the death penalty against both.

• Bernard 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.

• Dominique Castellan — former president of the international branch of DCNS; suspected by French magistrates of paying bribes in relation to the deal.

Summary of Corruption Allegations

Corruption 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. Razak is now Malaysia’s prime minister. The biggest suspicious payment was of EUR 114 million to Perimekar, a Malaysian company of which Baginda’s wife was the primary shareholder. 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. Further payments of EUR 30 million were subsequently made to Baginda. A further payment of EUR 2.5 million was subsequently made to an unnamed recipient. These commission payments were allegedly used to bribe Razak and other Malaysian officials.

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