Scorpenes deal: Najib’s US$1b ‘condition’
A document indicates that Najib, the then defence minister, sought a US$1billion ‘condition’ for a meeting between him and DCNI.
(Free Malaysia Today) – Investigations by French prosecutors have found a document indicating that the then defence minister, Najib Tun Razak, had sought a US$1 billion “condition” for a meeting between him and DCNI, said rights group Suaram.
The US$1 billion was for Perimekar Sdn Bhd’s “stay in France”.
At a press conference today, Suaram — which is the complainant in an ongoing French judicial probe into the controversial Scorpene submarines deal — revealed contents from investigation papers which had been made available to the NGO.
“We were really shocked to find that one of the documents contained Najib’s name and (he) had placed a condition in writing in France, that DCNS (the shipbuilding company that sold the submarines to Malaysia) would need to pay a maximum sum of US$1 bilion to Perimekar for their stay in France,” said Suaram’s Cynthia Gabriel.
This, she said, was revealed in a note taxed from a representative from Thales International Asia (which brokered the deal on behalf of arms manufacturer DCNS — the parent company of DCNI — with Perimekar and the Malaysian government) Francois Dupont entitled “Malaysia/Submarine Project” to his bosses.
In the note, Dupont had indicated that a meeting with Najib on July 14, 2001 would take place with the “condition” but it was not known if the meeting had actually occurred.
Perimekar is owned by Abdul Razak Baginda, a close associate of Najib, who was acquitted in abetting the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu. The murder case was alleged to be linked to the submarines deal.
