French cops to question PI Bala
PI Bala with lawyer Manjeet and financier RPK
Private investigator P. Balasubramaniam will be the first Malaysian witness summoned by French authorities over a probe of alleged corruption in Malaysia’s controversial Scorpene submarines purchase from France.
PKR MP Chua Tian Chang told reporters in Parliament today that Balasubramaniam had already arrived in Paris and will face the French police at their headquarters in the Nanterre prefecture at 2pm Paris time or 8pm Malaysian time tonight.
He confirmed that he had received information on the matter from Balasubramaniam’s lawyer Manjeet Singh Dhillon.
“I was informed that Bala was invited by the police for the interview, under instructions from the public prosecutor. He is the first Malaysian witness hauled up in the case,” Chua said.
He questioned why the local anti-corruption authorities, namely the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, had themselves shied away from interviewing Balasubramaniam recently when the foreign police found there was a need to do so.
“No doubt that the French police’s focus is not on the (murder of Mongolian model) Altantuya (Shaariibuu) but on the corruption in the sale of the submarines. But what I am disappointed in is that the MACC seems to think themselves more efficient than the French police.
“The quickly decided there was no need to interview Bala and instead, all they did was send him questions while the minister says there was no mismanagement in the Scorpene purchase so there was no need for MACC to investigate.
“But the French seem to take more care in this issue,” he said.
The MACC, which was initially scheduled to interview Balasubramaniam in London between July 5 and 7 this year, had decided against doing so and instead posed questions to the private investigator on his claims of a conspiracy in Altantuya’s murder.
