Scorpene probe 'also tracking trio's entry into France'

French judges investigating alleged kickbacks in the sale of two Scorpene-class submarines to the Malaysian government by DCNS, a Paris-based shipmaker, are also probing the entry of three individuals into France since 1999, said a source.

The trio - Najib Abdul Razak, Abdul Razak Baginda and Altantuya Shaariibuu - were said to have visited France, but their entry and exit are not recorded in  immigration documents.

Jasbir Singh Chahl, a former broker, has since claimed that French records indicate that Altantuya had never entered France and that she was not involved in the deal.

Based on French court dossier No. 54, which is available on the Internet, the judges heading the Scorpene inquiry want to know if the trio’s names ‘were written on the cross-border file and whether they passed through the French territory since 1999'.

The source said the court had inquired about this via a fax to the ‘Staff of the Central Directorate of the Frontier Police’.

On April 15, 2010, the court received correspondence and various documents indicating that the trio were not in the national cross-border file although ‘certain homonyms appear’.

Document 54 states: ‘Noting in particular that a person by the name of SHAARIYBUU Bayasgalan born on 26 February 1979 in Mongolia was issued a temporary residency card on the French territory valid from 27 August 2004 to 26 November 2004. The address declared was 18 rue Houdon in Paris 18.’

Based on details in her passport, however, Altantuya was born on May 6, 1979.

Asked to comment, Suaram secretariat member Cynthia Gabriel(right) confirmed the probe and raised the possibility of the trio having travelled to France via diplomatic channels.

"It is questionable how Najib and Abdul Razak could have passed through French immigration without being noticed ... It is not possible that they had never travelled to France between 1999 and 2006 (while negotiations were in progress)," she said.

Najib was defence minister and deputy premier when the Scorpene deal was inked in 2002, while Abdul Razak,  a well-connected political analyst owns Perimekar Sdn Bhd, the company which allegedly received kickbacks from DCNS.

Claims based on documents

Suaram is party to a civil suit filed in France against DCNS, which is being probed by two French judges for alleged misuse and mismanagement of funds amounting to more than 114.9 euros or RM540 million.

BN leaders had launched a series of attack against Suaram for "lying" about Altantuya's role in the deal, following Jasbir’s claim.

However, the human rights NGO has been basing its comments on information obtained from court documents and sworn statements.

In Document 136, for example, DCNS financial controller Gerard-Philippe Menayas states that Jean Marie Bouvin, who established Gifen, a Malta-based financial consultancy firm in 2001, had paid the expenses of Abdul Razak and Altantuya, his interpreter.

Gifen itself, according to Malta-based news portal Malta Today, is being investigated by French officials over a claim that part of a 114 million euro commission allegedly paid to Perimekar may have been laundered through the island state.

Abdul Razak's witness statement on Oct 31, 2007 states that he had met Altantuya, know to him as Aminah, at the end of 2004 and in the middle of 2005 in various places - Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, France and Kuala Lumpur.

This is backed by Altantuya's father, Setev, who has said that his daughter had travelled to France under the name ‘Aminah Abdullah’.