Jasbir Singh Chahl, in a statement issued to Bernama, stressed the contract between the Malaysian Government and Perimekar Sdn Bhd for a value equivalent of 115 million Euro was for defined scope of works, and provision of such services was within commercial norms.d Perimekar was subsequently nominated as the local vehicle to spearhead the submarine project while Terasasi Sdn Bhd (TSB) was incorporated to serve as an external service provider to advise and assist Thales.
“The assertion that Perimekar was a travel agency which had been given such tasks is outrageous and completely without basis,” said Jasbir, adding that it was a deliberate distortion of the facts by certain quarters for reasons of their own.
He contended that while some of the questions raised since the publication of his interview with a local daily on the Scorpene issue recently were sincere attempts to arrive at clarity, “many others in my opinion do not warrant a response for their sheer banality and the intransigence of the self-opinionated”.
He further said that obligations of TSB under the service provider agreement included:
- employment of qualified personnel and/or sub-contractors to render required services;
- provision of regular reports detailing project-related activities and information; and,
- ensuring that all employees and sub-contractors were in strict compliance with local and international laws, and that they were all cognizant of prevailing provisions of the OECD.
Jasbir said: “Between mid-2000 and December 2000, we had analysed, evaluated, conceptualised, strategised and led the development of the submarine project.
Najib Razak Baginda wants to be paid quickly?
Just who is this “Razak wants it to be paid quickly” in a handwritten note accompanying 360,000 euro (RM1.44 million) paid to a mysterious Hong Kong Company by Thint Asia (French defence company Thales International Asia)?
Is it Najib Razak the current Prime Minister of Malaysia or is it Razak Baginda, his close confidant who was implicated in the murder of Altantuya Shaahriibuu?
Read the article A mystery HK company in Scorpene scandal below courtesy ofMalaysiakini and decide for yourself:
A mystery HK company in Scorpene scandal
John Berthelsen
11:11AM May 1, 2012
For a company that allegedly received at least 36 million euro (RM144 million) from an offshoot of the French defense company DCN, Terasasi (Hong Kong) Ltd is a mysterious company indeed.
It is one of at least 142 names listed on the directory on the 19th floor of a skyscraper at 3 Lockhart Road in Hong Kong’s Wan Chai district.
The 19th floor’s main tenant is a company called Union Alpha, the Hong Kong arm of an accounting firm that provides “professional services to meet clients’ daily business needs, both in Hong Kong, Greater China and globally,” including auditing and assurance services, management consulting, accountancy and other services, according to the firm’s website.
There is no indication of what Terasasi’s business is. It is only listed in the Hong Kong Companies Registry as a “local company”.
Asked about the nature of Terasasi’s operations, Monique KL Chan, a senior officer at Union Alpha, told Asia Sentinel that “we cannot discuss confidential matters of our clients.”
She referred Asia Sentinel to her boss, whom she said was in a meeting. He did not immediately answer a request for a phone call.
Terasasi, however, is at the centre of allegations that at least some of the 36 million euro (RM144 million) was funneled through its accounts to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak as a commission on the sale of two Scorpene submarines purchased from the French defence company Thales International, also known as Thint Asia.
The two directors of Terasasi Hong Kong, which was first incorporated in Malaysia, are listed in the Hong Kong Companies Registry as Abdul Razak Baginda, formerly one of Najib’s closest friends, and Razak Baginda’s father, Abdul Malim Baginda.
There is no indication, for instance, who Terasasi’s bankers might be, but they might be beginning to take notice.
That is because Hong Kong’s money-laundering law makes it an offence for bankers, lawyers or accountants to deal with property they know or have reasonable grounds to believe represents the proceeds serious crimes.
Offenders are subject to a maximum of 14 years in prison. Records must be kept on any transaction over HK$8,000, the rough equivalent of US$1,000.
Tough money-laundering laws
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s (HKMA’s) voluminous guidelines put the onus on banks and other financial institutions and their professional employees to ensure that companies follow legal guidelines on deposits.
As required by the guidelines, banks make it a common practice to subject all employees dealing with the transfer of funds to regular, detailed briefings on money-laundering statutes and the penalties involved.
The need to guard against money laundering received new impetus in 2004 when the Hong Kong Monetary Authority urged banks to be especially alert to the possibility of money laundering as the territory prepared to become an outlet for yuan-denominated deposits.
In June of that year, the HKMA issued a supplement to the territory’s anti-money laundering guidelines, setting out ‘Know-Your-Customer’ principles, taking account of the requirements of a paper on ‘Customer Due Diligence for Banks’ issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.
French investigating magistrates Roger Le Loire and Serge Tournaire, who were appointed at the Paris Tribunal de Grande Instance, who are probing the sale of the submarines have indicated they would like to interview the Malaysian prime minister as well as Abdul Razak Baginda, who now lives in the UK.
However, any possibility that the French authorities could interview the prime minister of a sovereign state concerning bribery allegations is extremely slim – although the question could complicate any of Najib’s future plans to vacation in Europe.
It is unknown if French authorities have asked Hong Kong authorities for help into looking into Terasasi’s activities. Cecily Chik, a senior press information officer with the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in Hong Kong told Asia Sentinelonly that the agency does not comment on operational matters.
In addition to being a close Najib associate, Abdul Razak Baginda is the former head of a Malaysian think-tank who was at the centre of a 2006 investigation into the notorious death of Mongolian translator and party girl Altantuya Shaariibuu.
It was previously revealed on the floor of the Dewan Rakyat, Malaysia’s parliament, that a company called Perimekar Sdn Bhd received another 114 million euro (RM457 million) as a commission on the sale of the vessels, from an offshoot of Thales and DCNS called Armaris.
Perimekar at the time was wholly owned by another company, KS Ombak Laut Sdn Bhd, which in turn was also controlled by Razak Baginda and his wife, Mazalinda. Perimekar is now 20 percent each owned by the military retirement system LTAT and Boustead Holdings.
Probe on three contracts
The French news agency Agence France Press recently reported that the probe by the French investigating magistrates involves three contracts for the submarines which were signed on June 5, 2002.
According to the documents, the contracts had two components: the sale of two submarines built by Thint and the Spanish shipbuilding firm Izar, for 920 million euro (RM3.7 billion); and the delivery of “logistical support” from Perimekar Bhd – the 114 million euro (RM457 million) – to train the first 200 Royal Malaysian Navy personnel although there is no indication that the company had the wherewithal to train them.
The contracts cited by AFP included the 114 million euro (RM457 million) one paid by the Malaysian government to Perimekar. The second, called “C5 contract of engineering business,” was concluded in August 2000 between DCNI, a subsidiary of DCN, and Thales International Asia worth some 30 million euro (RM132 million). The third was the “consulting agreement” signed in October 2000 between Thint Asia and Terasasi.
The French investigators are also studying one of the invoices issued by Terasasi in August 2004 for 359,450 euro (RM1.44 million) sent to Thint Asia. For investigators, “it appears that… the amounts paid to Terasasi ultimately benefited Najib, the defence minister, or his adviser Razak Baginda.”
French authorities say Terasasi apparently received regular payments from Thint Asia, including one for 360,000 euro (RM1.44 million) that was accompanied with a handwritten note saying “Razak wants it to be paid quickly.” There is no indication if the Razak in question was Najib Razak or Razak Baginda (left).
The magistrates have documents that show that the money was funneled from Thint Asia to Terasasi – 3 million euro (RM12 million) when Terasasi was still domiciled in Malaysia, and 33 million euro (RM132 million) after it was incorporated in Hong Kong.
There is no indication at this point where the money went. French investigators, however, theorise that it was part of 146 million euro (RM585 million) that may have been funneled to officials of Umno and Najib, who traveled with Abdul Razak Baginda several times to France as defence minister at the time the Malaysians purchased the submarines from DCNS.
On at least one trip in 2004, Altantuya, then Razak Baginda’s lover, accompanied him to France as a translator. He later jilted her, impelling her to come to Kuala Lumpur to demand US$500,000 (RM1.5 million) from him. In a handwritten letter found after her death, she wrote that she was attempting to blackmail him, although she didn’t say why.
Two of Najib’s bodyguards were convicted of shooting her in the head and blowing up her body with plastic explosives in September 2006, possibly to hide the fact that she was pregnant when she was killed.
Because her killing does not appear to be connected to the scandal, French investigators are not looking into the causes of her death or the reasons behind it.
Although Razak Baginda was charged with abetting her murder, he was released without having to put up a defence.
Najib’s former bodyguards remain on death row in Malaysia. Their appeal against the death penalty has been delayed, presumably until after national elections that had been expected June this year although elections plans may have been derailed by a massive rally on April 28 calling for election reform.
Money used for bribery was tax deductible
Under the bribery conventions of the 32-member Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the French defence contractors could be liable for criminal sanctions if it is proven that no real services were delivered by the companies. Under French law, violators are liable for up to 10 years in prison.
Joseph Breham (right), a lawyer with Solicitors International Human Rights Group which was engaged by the Malaysian reform NGO Suaram, said in October last year that DCNS often budgeted as much as 8 to 12 percent of its total receipts as “commissions” to grease sales of armaments in third world countries.
Breham said Perimekar had received the commission for “supporting the contract,” which he said was a euphemism for unexplained costs, and also for “housing the crew” of the submarines in France.
In France, before 2002, any money used to bribe foreign officials was tax deductible. When the former finance director of DCN made a claim for 31 million euro (RM124 million) allegedly used to bribe the Malaysians for the purchase of the Scorpenes, Breham said, the budget minister questioned such a large bribe, although he did eventually authorise the tax break.
Olivier Metzner, a lawyer for Thales, told the French daily Le Parisienthat “we have already demonstrated to investigators that there was no corruption in this case.”
However, a confidential memorandum made available to Asia Sentineland Free Malaysia Today states that: “The beneficiaries of these funds are not difficult to imagine: the family clan and Razak Baginda relations. In addition, these funds will find their way to the dominant political party (Umno).”
Investigations by French prosecutors found a document indicating that the then defence minister, Najib Tun Razak, sought a US$1 billion (RM3 billion) “condition” for a meeting between French company DCNI and him in 2001, alleged rights group Suaram.
The sum was said to be 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 were 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 billion to Perimekar for their stay in France,” claimed Suaram secretariat member Cynthia Gabriel.
This was revealed in a note faxed 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, to his bosses.
In the note, entitled “Malaysia/Submarine Project”, Dupont indicated that a meeting with Najib on July 14, 2001 would take place with the abovementioned “condition” but it was not known if the meeting transpired.
Perimekar is directly linked to Abdul Razak Baginda, a close associate of Najib, who was acquitted of abetting in the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu. The murder case was allegedly connected to the submarines deal.
The note in question was obtained by prosecutors on May 28, 2010. It details Dupont’s visits to Malaysia during which he attended negotiation meetings with the Defence Ministry and the management of Perimekar.
“Basically, we’re finding out more about the mechanics of Perimekar, the company that was the recipient of the 114.96 million euros (RM574.8 million) in commissions and kickbacks, and we’re getting more questions than answers,” she said.
‘Great Malaysian robbery’
Gabriel said Suaram currently had “privileged full access” to the French investigators’ 153 investigation papers, which were translated for Suaram by interpreters and lawyers.
However, copies of the investigation papers were not released to the media.
So far, claimed Gabriel, the French investigations led to “unprecedented levels” of discoveries in the case, including the revelation of a “whole slew” of other companies that benefited from “new commissions” or “sweeteners” from the entire procurement process.
Suaram had now termed the whole Scorpene scandal as “the great Malaysian robbery”.
“It is no longer just the 114.96 million euros in commissions to Perimekar… it has magnified into a web of lies involving a slew of companies formed to complicate the concealment of the blatant robbery of Malaysian and French taxperyers’ money,” she said.
Gabriel alleged that more “retro-commissions” had surfaced, allowing for the misuse of bodies such as the pilgrimage funds (Lembaga Tabung Haji) and the military pension funds (Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera).
“The Malaysian and French people have been clearly misled, cheated and robbed of their monies through blatant corruption and mismanagement of funds in the name of national secret and security,” she said.
‘Evolved into criminal investigation’
Meanwhile, Suaram secretariat member and lawyer Fadiah Nadwa Fikri said the French judicial probe had now “evolved into a criminal investigation.”
“It would result in criminal prosecution of those involved in this corruption scandal, our French lawyers William Bourdon and Joseph Breham, have said. The parties involved in the scandal would soon be charged in the French criminal court. It’s going to be bigger than it already is now,” she said.
Fadiah said that the judge, Roger Le Loire, had accepted Suaram’s proposed list of seven witnesses, including Najib, Abdul Razak, and current defence minister Abdul Zahid Hamidi.
Other potential witnesses include: private investgator S Balasubramaniam, Altantuya’s father Setev Shariibuu, Razak Baginda’s wife Mazlinda Makhzan, Lodin Wok Kamarudin (both directors of Perimekar) and Jasbir Chahl, as one of the potential middlemen of the deal.
Subpoenas, said Fadiah, would be issued by the judge soon and the witnesses would be called to testify.
Fadiah said that according to French law, the court could take several actions to compel Malaysian witnesses to assist in the inquiry:
1. Judge would issue a subpoena.
2. Once the subpoena is issued, the witness is obliged to appear before the court.
3. If the witness refuses, the court could issue a notice of “mandate d ‘amener” to compell the witness to attend court.
4. If the witness fails to oblige, a warrant of arrest might be issued. This warrant is applicable within French boundaries, and might be internationalised if the judge deems it necessary.
5. A red alert could be sent to Interpol, if the situation warrants, based on the discretionary powers of the judge.
Suaram, said Fadiah, hoped that Malaysian officials would cooperate and assist in the probe as it was simply the “truth” that was being sought by the NGO.
The RM7.3 billion deal to purchase two Scorpene submarines with DCNS and Spainish Navantia was inked in 2002, when Najib was defence minister.
In December 2009, Suaram filed a complaint with the French courts asking for access to information regarding government contracts signed with Perimekar and other information classified as official secrets in Malaysia.
In April 2010, the French courts accepted the request to investigate the claim of corruption for a payment amounting to 114 million euros from DCNS to Perimekar.
Under the French justice system, an investigative judge has the power to perform both as a judge and investigating prosecutor.
“This work, role, participation and contributions culminated in the successful award of the submarine project in June 2002, on a G-to-G basis. Perimekar was also at the same time awarded the support services contract.
Jasbir pointed out that several people had come forth over the years to make claims to having been in the know of the project negotiations, or that they had some “explosive revelations” to make, in relation to the submarines project.
“They base these claims on having had either first-hand knowledge or that they had been given such information by others, inclusive of (Mongolian national) Altantuya (Shariibuu),” he said, adding that Altantuya had no role in the negotiations.
“Thus far, I have yet to hear anything substantive from any of them. How Altantuya could have provided anyone with any meaningful information when she herself was not involved, escapes me.
“Vested interests are trying their utmost to create a linkage where none exists. There appears to be little interest in the truth, only at keeping the issue alive for self interests,” he noted.
Jasbir said the French courts had themselves stated that they were not looking at Altantuya’s demise.
“Their focus is on business practices within French companies, inclusive of DCN and Thales, in relation to defence-related contracts in Taiwan, Malaysia and Pakistan,” he added.
Jasbir said he had been asked by the French authorities to travel to France to assist them in their investigations.
“However, due to my recuperation process and being in remission, I had informed them that I was unable to travel such distances.
“They had then advised me that I could file a notarised deposition, pending an interview in due course.
“This, I did, at the French Embassy in Kuala Lumpur on March 28, this year,” he added.Suara Keadilan Malaysia blogged Umno members perform prayers seeking God’s protection from Altantuya Shaariibuu the ghost
