FORMER prime minister Najib Razak today accused Pakatan Harapan of dredging up the 2002 Scorpene submarine purchase for political mileage.

Najib was the defence minister when the bribery scandal broke out over Malaysia’s acquisition of submarines.

Najib said the matter was brought up again now to tarnish his image.

“The investigation into the bribery case involving the purchase of the submarine and the murder of Altantuya Shariibuu was reopened when PH was in power.

“There was no evidence that I had any connection to bribery or Altantuya’s murder.

“She was Razak Baganda’s girlfriend, not mine. I never met or knew of her existence until she was murdered,” he wrote on Facebook.

Mongolian interpreter Altantuya was murdered by two police officers of the Special Action Unit who were formerly Najib’s bodyguards.

The Pekan MP’s statement comes after French defence group Thales was charged in France over the 2002 sale of submarines to Malaysia.

Malaysian had signed a US$1.2 (RM5) billion deal to buy two Scorpene-class submarines and an Agosta submarine from French naval dockyard unit DCN, now part of Thales.

Najib’s close associate Razak Baginda allegedly acted as an adviser on the deal. He was accused of disguising more than €114 (RM620) million of kickbakcs as “consulting work” by a firm in which he was the largest shareholder.

The money was said to have been given to Najib, who has faced a series of graft cases since he lost the prime minister’s office in 2018.

Razak Baginda was charged in France in 2017 while Najib has been questioned by Malaysian anti-graft investigators. – April 29, 2022.