Major Elements in the Case
Highlights from the Investigation papers :
Former finance director of DCN, Gerarde Philippe Maneyas had made a claim for 32 million Euros allegedly used to bribe Malaysian officials for purchase of the Scorpenes. We know that at least 32 million Euros were paid by Thales International (Thint) Asia to Terasasi.
There is an invoice by Terasasi dated 1.10.2000 for 100,000 Euros.
There is also an invoice from Terasasi to Thint Asia, dated 28.8.2004 for 359,450 Euros with a hand-written note saying : “Razak wants it in a hurry.”
With the new French law and OECD Convention against corruption in place after 2002, the French arms merchants had to find a way to pay commissions to their foreign clients. The method used was to create “service providers” that could “increase invoices” in order to take the place of commissions.
Intermediary countries were then used to facilitate payments. The companies used in the Malaysian case were” Gifen in Malta, Eurolux in Luxemburg and Technomar in Belgium. Among the ivoices uncovered were travel expenses of Baginda and Altantuya to Hong Kong and Macau. Parliamentarians in Malta have also questioned their governments for answers over the role of Malta in this case.
Thus, when the French state company DCN terminated its contracts, Thales took over as a private company, not involving the state. Thales International was appointed to coordinate the political connections.
A commercial engineering contract was then signed between DCNI and Thales, referred to as “C5”. It covered 30 million Euros in commercial costs abroad. Another “consulting agreement” was signed in 2000 between Thint Asia and Terasasi for 2.5 million Euros.
While we have been told about PERIMEKAR and its role, there has been a pin drop silence on the other company TERASASI. Defence Minister Zahid Hamidi denied having any knowledge on this company in his answers to Parliament last June. The taxpayers have the legitimate interest to know the role of TERASASI however, salient questions relating to the Scorpene scandal were met with silence. Until today, the government had yet to explain to the public the exact role of TERASASI. Perhaps the 6 agencies taskforce set up to investigate SUARAM should utilize its research materials and start looking into TERASASI.
Joseph Breham had in our joint press conference in Bangkok, also uncovered that a secret document was found in the Thales office, belonging to the Royal Malaysian Navy on the proposals linked to the submarines. Was this document sold to Thales with complete disregard to national secrets?
Questions remain unanswered.
Malaysia's Legal Obligations Under the UN Anti Corruption Convention.
Malaysia as a signatory to the UNCAC since 2008, is now obliged to cooperate with other nation states in preventing, investigating and prosecuting offenders of corruption. State parties are bound to render specific forms of mutual legal assistance in gathering and transferring evidence for use in court and to extradite offenders.
An overarching trend in the fight against trans-border corruption is universal jurisdiction. This means a country can bring to trial and prosecute in that country those accused of having committed a crime in another country.
The SCORPENE submarine scandal provides the platform for universal jurisdiction to be applied. By ratifying the UNCAC, Malaysia has signaled to the world our willingness to submit to an international framework of cooperation.
The question is, will the MACC kick-start an investigation on the Scorpene scandal? Can the full facts be told in the Parliament and released to the public?
The attacks launched against SUARAM, as the whistleblower in the Scorpene Inquiry is a reflection of a desperate government who have realized the magnitude and impact of the Scorpene deal. SUARAM reiterates the need for Malaysian public institutions to function independently and effectively in promoting good governance and combating corruption.
Released by,
SUARAM