French authorities confirm will record Bala's statement next week

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

In another blow to embattled Prime Minister Najib Razak, French financial police have confirmed they will be recording a statement from private investigator P Balasubramaniam next week. This is in connection with a corruption probe into the sale of two Scorpene submarines to Malaysia in 2002.

Big-name French politicians, including President Nicolai Sarkozy, may also figure in the investigation alongside the Malaysian leader,
who had ordered the submarines from DCNS when he was still the defense minister.

“We have final confirmation that the French investigation team will meet Bala next week.We hope that Bala can help the French prosecutors move a step closer to binging the culprits to book," Cynthia Gabriel, director of civil rights group SUARAM.

SUARAM had earlier this year lodged a complaint with the Parisian authorities after failing to get Najib to initiate an independent inquiry into the case, which is intertwined with a controversial murder. In a sworn legal statement issued in 2008, Bala had implicated the Malaysian PM, his wife Rosmah and their friend Razak Baginda in both the murder and corruption cases.

In the eye of the storm

Indeed, Bala is now very much the man in the eye of the storm. He is due to hold a press conference in London later today, where he has promised to clarify details he divulged two years ago.

Bala had listed out what he knew about Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu, who had helped his boss Razak Baginda close Najib's RM6.7 billion submarines order. Bala was hired by Baginda to stop Altantuya from blackmailing him for her US$500,000 share of a RM570 million kickback allegedly paid by DCNS.

However, according to French newspaper La Liberation, a jealous Rosmah refused to pay her a cent. Her body was later found in a jungle clearing in Malaysia. Forensics show she was shot in the head before military-grade explosives were strapped to her body and exploded to prevent identification. The hauntingly beautiful Altantuya had pleaded for her life, begging her killers to spare her because she was pregnant.

Two former bodyguards of Najib's and Rosmah’s have since been sentenced to hang for her murder, but her family and most Malaysians are not appeased by the court's verdict. They believe the two bodyguards were just order-takers and the real puppet-masters have yet to be apprehended.

Anti-corruption clause

Nevertheless, the French probe is expected to focus on the corruption in the submarines deal rather than the murder. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission was also due to record a statement from Bala in London this week but at the last minute aborted the plan, prompting widespread criticism.

"This is now the hottest topic in the French media. They are shocked by the brutality of the Altanutya murder and intrigued by the personalities involved. They are also bewildered that our MACC would want to withdraw from the London meeting with Bala. It is a complete contrast to the professionalism shown so far by their authorities," Batu MP Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

"In the Altantuya murder, what is involved is justice for a life ruthlessly taken. In the submarines case, we are talking about money belonging to Malaysian taxpayers. As such, there is no justification for the MACC not to insist on trying to recover as much money as possible for the rakyat."

It is believed that the contracts inked by the Malaysian defense ministry and DCNS contain anti-corruption clauses that prohibit payment of any form of kickbacks. If corruption is proven, DCNS may be liable to repay the relevant amount to Malaysian taxpayers.