by Ganesh Sahathevan
The Malaysian and French Governments will jointly investigate the award of Scorpene submarine contracts to DCNS (now Naval Group) by the recently deposed government of Najib Razak:
Malaysian national news agency Bernama reported yesterday :
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng today met French Ambassador Frédéric Laplanche who disclosed that the French judicial system is pursuing the €1 billion (RM4.66 billion) Scorpene submarine corruption scandal.
This, however, did not extend to the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case, which does not involve the French authorities and jurisdiction, the minister said on the Ministry of Finance’s Facebook account.
Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was the defence minister in 2002 when the deal for the submarines was sealed between France and Malaysia.
“(I had) interesting discussions with the French Ambassador Frédéric Laplanche on common areas of interest that can foster closer ties between our two people.
Malaysia will form a special investigative task force to look into major issues raised by the people - including a French Scorpene submarine deal done during former prime minister Najib Razak's time as defence minister.
"We will create an investigative task force and the form of that task force will be discussed in Cabinet," newly installed defence minister Mohamad Sabu said on Monday (Jun 4), when asked if his ministry will look into the Scorpene case.
All this cannot be good for PM Turnbull, Defence Minister Marise Payne, and Christopher Pyne.Many involved in the Malaysian deal were also involved in putting together the Australian DCNS deal:
DCNS's Philippe Japiot charged with corruption, spent much time in Australia before the award of the Australian AUD 50 Billion contract
And there may also be problems for ANZ,as previously reported on this blog:
Friday, August 4, 2017
Monsieur Gonski and the ANZ board have a DCNS money laundering problem,added to the 1MDB scandal
by Ganesh Sahathevan
The payments below from DCNS of France appear to have also been laundered via PM Najib's AMBank accounts, which like it or not,were and are being managed by ANZ.
The payments below from DCNS of France appear to have also been laundered via PM Najib's AMBank accounts, which like it or not,were and are being managed by ANZ.
Sunday, July 23, 2017
Najib's other 1MDB,or DCNS money? USD 300 million which he did not deny receiving, but which the DOJ has not located. How much in Hong Kong, and is this a missing Scorpene link?
by Ganesh Sahathevan
Monies were transferred from Najib's AMislamic Bank
and Singapore accounts to accounts at Credit Suisse's
branch in Hong Kong:(see story below)
The latest US DOJ complaint not only demolished what was left of the "Saudi donor" story, it also showed how some of that USD 700 million from 1 MDB was used to buy the USD 25 Million Rosmah Pink.
However,there is a further USD 300 million which even the DOJ seems to know nothing of.That additional sum was reported in the ABC 4 Corners story by LInton Besser ,aired last year:
Monies were transferred from Najib's AMislamic Bank
and Singapore accounts to accounts at Credit Suisse's
branch in Hong Kong:(see story below)
The latest US DOJ complaint not only demolished what was left of the "Saudi donor" story, it also showed how some of that USD 700 million from 1 MDB was used to buy the USD 25 Million Rosmah Pink.
However,there is a further USD 300 million which even the DOJ seems to know nothing of.That additional sum was reported in the ABC 4 Corners story by LInton Besser ,aired last year:
LINTON BESSER: The Malaysian government says Najib Razak has returned more than US$600 million dollars he received in 2013 and closed two of his accounts.
But Four Corners has established that three new accounts were opened in the prime minister's name and the money just kept on pouring in.
In June 2014, for example, the bank was notified of another 50 million British pounds that was to be wired into the prime minister's name. There were also a series of cash deposits that raised money laundering alerts here inside the bank.
A high-level source has shown Four Corners the Malaysian prime minister's bank accounts. The banking documents reveal an extraordinary and steady flow of money between 2011 and 2014.
By June 26, 2012, the bank records show deposits worth US$75 million from a Saudi prince, US$80 million from the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Finance and another US$120 million from a shell company in the British Virgin Islands.
On the 21st of March, 2013, the prime minister received US$620 million from a different company registered there. Four days later, the same donor deposited another US$61 million.
By the 10th of April, 2013, the prime minister had received more than US$1 billion.
The Malaysian Government did not dispute the above facts, and instead bragged that the ABC story only proved that the money in Najib's account was from the Saudis.That assertion was based on the bank statements shown to the ABC's Besser,which were part of the story that went to air.
We now know that the documents were false with regards the source of funds. The sums on the other hand seem to be accurate. This blog has reported the existence of Najib's accounts in Hong Kong so it is only logical to ask if that HK accounts have been used to launder the funds.
Given the French Scorpene indictment, it must also be asked if those accounts have been used to launder funds said to have been received by Najib fron DCNS.
END
References
French list Malaysian PM Najib Razak in bribery case file
- The Australian
- Save
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is facing a new front in a multi-billion-dollar corruption scandal bedevilling his administration, with French investigators probing whether he received bribes as defence minister in a $1.2 billion submarine contract.
The investigation centres on Thales International Asia’s 2002 contract to deliver two submarines to the Malaysian government and whether the company’s former president, Bernard Baiocco, indirectly paid kickbacks to Mr Najib to secure the deal.
Mr Baiocco was indicted last December for allegedly paying commissions to Abdul Razak Baginda, a political analyst purportedly close friend of Mr Najib.
But Britain’s Financial Times cited sources close to the investigation — including Mr Baiocco’s lawyer Jean-Yves Le Borgne — confirming that judicial documents also named Mr Najib as a suspected recipient.
All three men have denied any wrongdoing, with Mr Baginda telling the Financial Times he received $US47 million in legitimate consulting fees for his role in securing the Scorpene submarine deal but paid no bribes.
A Malaysian government spokesman dismissed the allegations as “baseless smears for political gain”, saying Mr Najib had received no correspondence from French prosecutors.
The Paris probe come less than a fortnight after Malaysian Attorney-General Mohamad Apandi Ali cleared Mr Najib over a $US681m transfer into his bank account from accounts connected with the 1MDB state investment fund.
Mr Apandi found the money was a personal gift from the Saudi royal family to help fund Mr Najib’s 2013 election campaign and to counter the influence of Islamic extremism in Malaysia — an explanation Riyadh has refused to confirm or deny.
However, the Sarawak Report, an online journalism site which has led coverage of 1MDB scandal, offered an alternative narrative. It alleged the single Saudi source cited in some reports to have confirmed the gift was Nawaf Obaid, a spin doctor employed on occasions and at some cost by the Malaysian government to bolster its image.
The former spin doctor, who previously held a post in the Saudi regime, is also connected with PetroSaudi, a Middle East oil company implicated in the alleged misappropriation of as much as $US4 billion from 1MDB, through his brother Tarek Obaid who was its former director, the report claimed.
PetroSaudi is now under investigation by Swiss, Singaporean and US agencies on suspicion of having helped siphon hundreds of millions from 1MDB.
The Sarawak Report claims to have traced the money trail from PetroSaudi’s own emails, thanks to former PetroSaudi employee turned whistleblower Xavier Justo, who is in a Thai jail for blackmailing his former employer.
It also questions suggestions the donation to Mr Najib may have come in part from the late Saudi king Abdullah’s seventh son Prince Turki, a 50 per cent shareholder in PetroSaudi, citing JPMorgan confirmation statements showing $US77m actually flowed out of 1MDB into Prince Turki’s accounts.
While Mr Najib has urged Malaysians to accept his exoneration and move on from the issue, the Paris probe means the Prime Minister is facing another front in his battle to remain in power.
He has already removed officials who have questioned his involvement in the 1MDB affair, and this week forced the resignation of Mukhriz Mahathir, chief minister of Kedah State and son of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.
Both men have played key roles in a so-far unsuccessful campaign within the ruling UMNO party to unseat Mr Najib.
The Scorpene submarine deal now under French investigation is notorious in Malaysia because of its link to the murder of a young Mongolian woman, Altantuya Shaaribu. Shaaribu had been in a relationship with Mr Baginda and acted as a translator during the deal but later accused him of failing to pay her $500,000 fee.
Sirul Azhar Umar, one of two police officers from a government close protection unit convicted of her murder but freed on bail pending an appeal, fled to Australia where he is being held in Sydney’s Villawood detention centre.
Rumours that both Mr Baginda and the Prime Minister himself were linked to her murder have dogged Mr Najib, though both were cleared of involvement during a 2008 trial.
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by Ganesh Sahathevan
Overlooked in this week's reporting is this revelation ,with regards a report lodged with Hong Kong Police by UMNO whistle-blower Khairuddin Hassan:
Four other companies are also suspect, added Khairuddin, because Najib is a signatory here and the accounts of the companies show that a total of RM1.125 billion has been kept at the Hong Kong branch of Credit Suisse. “I have requested the Hong Kong police to conduct comprehensive and detailed investigations on the financial sources of the companies concerned and their transactions.”
“I requested the authorities concerned to investigate Alliance Assets International Ltd; Cityfield Enterprises Ltd; Bartingale International Ltd; Wonder Quest Investments Ltd. All these companies have Najib as the signatory.
Khairuddin, at the same time, also lodged another set of police reports on Jynwell Capital (HK); Jynwell Charitable Foundation; and Strategic Resources (Global Ltd), all owned by Jho Low and family.
It has been established that the report included this document,which suggests that monies were transferred from Najib's AMislamic Bank and Singapore accounts to accounts at Credit Suisse's branch in Hong Kong:
The report against Larry Low concerns the Low family's takeover of Coastal Energy , a company formerly listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.It has been alleged that the takeover was funded in part with funds from 1 MDB.The report points the finger at Tan Sri Larry Low as the mastermind of his son Jho Low's adventures. The reports taken together suggest a base of operations in Hong Kong.
END
Overlooked in this week's reporting is this revelation ,with regards a report lodged with Hong Kong Police by UMNO whistle-blower Khairuddin Hassan:
Four other companies are also suspect, added Khairuddin, because Najib is a signatory here and the accounts of the companies show that a total of RM1.125 billion has been kept at the Hong Kong branch of Credit Suisse. “I have requested the Hong Kong police to conduct comprehensive and detailed investigations on the financial sources of the companies concerned and their transactions.”
“I requested the authorities concerned to investigate Alliance Assets International Ltd; Cityfield Enterprises Ltd; Bartingale International Ltd; Wonder Quest Investments Ltd. All these companies have Najib as the signatory.
Khairuddin, at the same time, also lodged another set of police reports on Jynwell Capital (HK); Jynwell Charitable Foundation; and Strategic Resources (Global Ltd), all owned by Jho Low and family.
It has been established that the report included this document,which suggests that monies were transferred from Najib's AMislamic Bank and Singapore accounts to accounts at Credit Suisse's branch in Hong Kong:
END
