The emergence of invoices totaling millions of ringgit in relation to the purchase of the six naval patrol vessels raise the concern of kickbacks, echoing the Scorpene submarine deal.
According to invoices leaked to Kita president Zaid Ibrahim, three 'agents' were paid a total of RM11.36 million for "technical assistance" in connection with the purchase from French arms dealer DCNS.
"Why can't the navy determine what is required by the navy, instead of these consultants? Unless this is necessary to channel corruption money," he said when met in Tropicana today.
Refusing to reveal his source, Zaid said the companies had received payments in Euro to foreign currency accounts in Singapore from 2010 to April 2011.
According to a Oct 25, 2010 invoice, Sousmarin Armada, received 935,000 euros for "technical services fees for system infrastructure configuration, system engineering and evaluation, commercial negotiation and selection of design partners for the Second Generation Patrol Vessel project."
The invoice was made out to Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd, which won the contract for the six vessels, by the company purportedly based in Paris. The amount was paid in two parts on Oct 28 and Nov 1, 2010.
Based on leaked documents, the same company issued anther invoice for the same service on Nov 3, 2010 for 986,000 euros and was paid the same month.
According to invoices leaked to Kita president Zaid Ibrahim, three 'agents' were paid a total of RM11.36 million for "technical assistance" in connection with the purchase from French arms dealer DCNS.
"Why can't the navy determine what is required by the navy, instead of these consultants? Unless this is necessary to channel corruption money," he said when met in Tropicana today.
Refusing to reveal his source, Zaid said the companies had received payments in Euro to foreign currency accounts in Singapore from 2010 to April 2011.According to a Oct 25, 2010 invoice, Sousmarin Armada, received 935,000 euros for "technical services fees for system infrastructure configuration, system engineering and evaluation, commercial negotiation and selection of design partners for the Second Generation Patrol Vessel project."
The invoice was made out to Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd, which won the contract for the six vessels, by the company purportedly based in Paris. The amount was paid in two parts on Oct 28 and Nov 1, 2010.
Based on leaked documents, the same company issued anther invoice for the same service on Nov 3, 2010 for 986,000 euros and was paid the same month.
Setaria Holdings Limited, said to be based in Brussels, had last February invoiced Boustead Naval Shipyard 850,000 euros for "technical evaluation and integration parameters of equipment and systems... for the second generation patrol vessels".
Setaria also issued two other invoices to Boustead Naval Shipyard for 832,000 euros and 725,000 euros respectively.
Both Setaria and Sousmarin Armada cannot be independently verified.
Singapore bank accounts
Another company, JSD Corporation Pte Ltd said to be based in Singapore, invoiced Boustead Naval Shipyard for 312,000 euros in April this year.
According to the invoice, the service provided was "technical evaluation for MRG, SRG, SAM, SSM, hardware system, subsystems and completeness, software items, auxiliary or subsystem hardware, deliverable and completeness, test specification, modularity, redundancy and open architect for the second generation patrol vessels".
The company's website reveals that it provides technical service for aviation maintenance, repairs and overhauls, specialising in the Boeing 747, 737 and non-military Kazaan helicopters.
Incorporated in 1989, JSD also sells toy cars, boomboxes and remote keychain luggage finders.
All three companies, despite two being based in Europe, received payment through foreign currency accounts in the Singapore branches of Standard Chartered Bank and OCBC.
"Somebody has to stop this practice... as this is the reason our security is compromised. The army and naval forces have no say over the purchases and we pay too much for equipment that don't work," Zaid said.
He added that if Boustead wanted to buy from DCNS, it could have gone straight to the suppliers and not through these middlepersons, adding to the final price.
"Boustead is paying these agents, but they will recoup this through the price quoted to the government," he said.
"Until today, we still don't know how the price of the six vessels had gone up from the initial RM6 billion to RM9 billion."
Setaria also issued two other invoices to Boustead Naval Shipyard for 832,000 euros and 725,000 euros respectively.
Both Setaria and Sousmarin Armada cannot be independently verified.
Singapore bank accounts
Another company, JSD Corporation Pte Ltd said to be based in Singapore, invoiced Boustead Naval Shipyard for 312,000 euros in April this year.
According to the invoice, the service provided was "technical evaluation for MRG, SRG, SAM, SSM, hardware system, subsystems and completeness, software items, auxiliary or subsystem hardware, deliverable and completeness, test specification, modularity, redundancy and open architect for the second generation patrol vessels".The company's website reveals that it provides technical service for aviation maintenance, repairs and overhauls, specialising in the Boeing 747, 737 and non-military Kazaan helicopters.
Incorporated in 1989, JSD also sells toy cars, boomboxes and remote keychain luggage finders.
All three companies, despite two being based in Europe, received payment through foreign currency accounts in the Singapore branches of Standard Chartered Bank and OCBC.
"Somebody has to stop this practice... as this is the reason our security is compromised. The army and naval forces have no say over the purchases and we pay too much for equipment that don't work," Zaid said.He added that if Boustead wanted to buy from DCNS, it could have gone straight to the suppliers and not through these middlepersons, adding to the final price.
"Boustead is paying these agents, but they will recoup this through the price quoted to the government," he said.
"Until today, we still don't know how the price of the six vessels had gone up from the initial RM6 billion to RM9 billion."
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