FRENCH lawyers representing Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) will meet Attorney-General Tommy Thomas tomorrow over the Scorpene submarine scandal, said anti-graft activist Cynthia Gabriel.

She said the meeting is to iron out details on cooperation at the government-to-government level, with a view to resolve the suit filed over the matter in France.

“We hope to move to the government-to-government level so that (through) mutual cooperation, the cross-border corruption case can be resolved,” the Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism executive director told The Malaysian Insight.

French lawyers William Bourbon and Apoline Cagnat were engaged by Suaram to file the suit in relation to the purchase of the submarines. The duo are now in Malaysia, and have met Cynthia.

It was reported that French authorities are already investigating the controversial submarine deal.

The purchase of two Scorpene-class and one Agosta-class submarines from French naval dockyards unit DCN was made in 2002 for €1 billion (RM5 billion).

Then defence minister Najib Razak oversaw the inking of the deal.

In 2009, French authorities indicted two former top executives, one of them from a DCN subsidiary, for corruption in relation to the submarine purchases.

It is alleged that some RM540 million was paid as commission to Perimekar Sdn Bhd, a company linked to Abdul Razak Baginda, a Najib confidante and political analyst.

Some funds from the sale also purportedly went to Hong Kong-registered firm Terasasi Ltd, linked to Razak.

Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu last June said the ministry would set up a task force to investigate the Scorpene case. – February 11, 2019.