IT is the story that won’t sink – about Malaysian submarines that once had trouble diving while also at the centre of a French corruption scandal mixed with a Mongolian murder mystery.

It resurfaced again this week to add another set of woes to Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was defence minister when the submarine deal was signed in 2002. He is already under further pressure over the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal as repayment of a portion of it’s debt was due last month.

Critics say Putrajaya now has to investigate the €1 billion (RM5 billion) purchase of two Scorpene-class submarines and one Agosta-class submarine from French naval dockyards unit DCN, which is linked to French defence group Thales, as one-time Najib aide Abdul Razak Baginda has been charged with complicity in kickbacks related to the deal.

Any potential investigation in Malaysia could complicate Najib’s decision to call snap polls ahead of his mandate expiring next year, and also further tarnish his reputation that has been sullied by revelations in the 1MDB scandal of monies being siphoned off into his personal accounts.

Najib had shrugged off the allegations when it first surfaced in 2006 after Razak’s mistress, Altantuya Shaariibuu, was shot dead and blown up by two elite policemen who once served on Najib’s security detail. Both policemen were convicted for the Mongolian’s murder, although no motive was found.

Razak himself was acquitted of being an accomplice in the murder, but the latest development in the French corruption scandal would return him to the limelight and revive the murder mystery and its tenuous link to Najib.

It will also throw a spotlight onto defence deals in Malaysia, particularly the number of agreements signed when Najib was twice the defence minister while Dr Mahathir Mohamad was prime minister between 1981 and 2003.

Najib has gone on the offensive against his mentor-turned-nemesis by pointing out financial scandals during Dr Mahathir’s time in office, in a tit-for-tat that began with the latter’s criticisms over the 1MDB scandal.

The current French judicial case could add more ammunition to Dr Mahathir and his allies to pursue their case about corruption scandals that seem to entangle Najib and his Barisan Nasional (BN) government.

That will be political fodder for the election campaign when the polls are called, and put Najib and BN on the back foot as they are already dealing with rising living costs and mismanagement in several government-linked companies that has affected public support, as reflected in several consumer confidence surveys.

But Razak last night insisted he had not committed any crime of corruption or breached any laws in relation to the Scorpene submarine deals and that the French authorities had not charged him with any crime.

He said the term “charged” in the context of the inquiry means placing an individual under “formal investigation”.

“The French legal process is different from the Malaysian legal process. In the Malaysian legal process a person suspected of a crime is investigated and if there is sufficient evidence, the person is charged in a court of law.”

“It must be emphasised that it’s an ongoing inquiry and no formal charges in a court of law have been brought against any individual(s),” he said.

Putrajaya has yet to comment on the latest developments in the French probe but has always insisted the submarine purchase was above board despite calls for investigations in Malaysia. – August 2, 2017.