ABOUT 10,000 copies of the facts sheet on the Scorpene submarine scandal will be distributed to remind the people of the alleged case of corruption that was revealed in 2008.

Anti-corruption group C4 is driving the effort. Its director Cynthia Gabriels said the aim is to jog the public memory so that the scandal is not forgotten.

She said the scandal was one of the hot issues during the 13th general election but it has taken a backseat to the new controversies overwhelming Malaysians today.

“The most important thing is, it has not been resolved. Basically no one has been brought to book. We are very disappointed because we have to keep relying on foreign jurisdiction to tell Malaysians that action is being taken somewhere else, but not here,” said Gabriel in a press conference at the Parliament media centre today.

Subang MP R. Sivarasa of PKR and Seputeh MP Teresa Kok of DAP were present.

It was discovered in 2008 that France state-owned shipbuilding company DCNS and Thales International Asia, from which the Malaysian government purchased two Scorpene submarines for RM5 billion in 2002, paid RM570 million in commissions and kickbacks to a company called Perimekar Sdn Bhd controlled by Abdul Razak Baginda, a close friend of Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was defence minister at the time of the purchase.

Sivarasa said the Scorpene affair and another big scandal, 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), had one thing in common – Najib.

“One person is the common link. (It’s) our prime minister. At the time he was not the PM. He was the defence minister where he authorised the purchase of two submarines which cost us RM5 billion.

“What became a scandal was the fact that 114.9 million euros (RM570 million at the time) was paid – a commission but we call it a bribe. The French judiciary and the French police are involved in an ongoing investigation into this payment,” said Sivarasa.

He said the facts sheet gives details of what transpired in the Scorpene deal, including who has been indicted, in English and in Malay.

Three French men linked to the case have been indicted so far, and  Razak is implicated.

“Razak Baginda says he has not been charged, not like the Malaysian system but it is almost reaching there,” said Sivarasa.

Gabriel said it had taken six years for the Scorpene case to reach to this stage of investigation.

She said the investigation was now focused on a Hong Kong-based company, Terasasi, which she said was owned by Razak’s father.

“A lot of the focus is in Hong Kong as most of the money is laundered there. We expect that this is not the end. We also expect a few more people to be indicted,” said Gabriel.

She said 30 million euros had found its way to the Terasasi account from what the French authorities had described as “sham contracts”. – March 19, 2018.