Sex or not, Baginda to go head to head with Ummi in RM100 mil lawsuit

A businessman, who insists that he had sex with Malaysia's most glamorous political 'villianess' Ummi Hafilda, has decided to go head to head with her on a RM100 million defamation suit she slapped on him earlier this year.

Baginda @ Nor Azman Abdullah, who was Ummi's former business partner, applied to set aside her claim against him. His lead counsel Yusmadi Yusoff confirmed the application was filed at the High Court civil registry via e-filing on Friday.

"I hope the court will hear us first before hearing the application by the plaintiff," Yusmadi told High Court judge VT Singham.

Plane tickets to HK in the name of Baginda, Altantuya and "more persons"

Investigators are closing in on the Altantuya trail in the controversial Scorpenes acquisition. According to top Malaysian NGO, Suaram, plane tickets in the name of the slain Mongolian translator, her lover Razak Baginda and "more persons" have been discovered during.

Who is the mystery man who travelled with Altantuya and Baginda to Paris

A guessing game has begun over the identity of the mystery man who had accompanied murdered Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu and her lover Razak Baginda on their trips to Paris to discuss the submarines deal.

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim's PKR party has already called for a press conference at 12 noon on Thursday to demand further clarity and transparency from the government over the RM6.7 billion acquisition, as well as full details of Prime Minister Najib Razak's role in it.

It was SUARAM director Cynthia Gabriel who piqued the public's curiosity when she announced last week that "a third person's name came up" during the French investigations.

She was referring to the lawsuit filed by her group against DCN, the vendor of the 2 Scorpene and one Agosta submarines purchase by Malaysia's defense ministry in 2002.

Najib, who was then the defense minister, approved the acquisition and he is accused of receiving kickbacks from DCN. Under scrutiny now is a 114 million euros side-deal granted to Perimekar, a firm connected to Baginda, who is his close friend.

Who can it be

Meanwhile, all eyes are on who the mystery man is.

Nearly a year ago, after being quizzed by the French financial police, Baginda's private investigator P Balasubramaniam had mentioned two new names - Major Rahim and Abdul Rahim Saad.

The French prosecutors had asked him if he knew about the two men, their background and involvement. These 2 names had not appeared in his controversial statutory declaration made in 2008, which had linked Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor to the Altantuya murder.

“Bala said these were two names the prosecutors had brought up. He has no idea who they are,” Bala’s lawyer Americk Sidhu had told Malaysia Chronicle in July 2010.

So, who are these two men? Were they part of the ministry of defense? Should not the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission have picked up the thread and begin an embarrassingly long-overdue probe at the Malaysian end?

Sad to say, these questions were asked a year ago. And till now, there is still no action from the Malaysian side. By contrast, the authorities in France are already preparing to shift the inquiry against DCN into open court in Paris. It is illegal in France for any company to offer kickbacks or bribes in order to secure a deal.

One way or another, it looks like highly sensitive information will soon be dredged out that may even be powerful enough to bring down the Najib administration.

Third possibility

There is also a third possibility. The person who travelled frequently with Baginda and Altantuya might be Najib himself.

Altanutya's cousin has previously told the Malaysian authorities that she has seen a photo of the Malaysian premier having dinner with Baginda and Altantuya in Paris.

As for Najib, he has denied ever knowing Altanutya and has even sworn on the Quran to prove his sincerity. Yet he has been unable to shake off public suspicion that both he and Rosmah are involved.

The two men sentenced to hang for her death are the first couple's former bodyguards. Neither men had prior knowledge of Altantuya or motive to kill her unless instructed or paid to do so.

Altantuya had come to Kuala Lumpur to get her US$500,000 share of the 'commission' allegedly paid by DCN to Baginda and Najib. Bala, who was hired by Baginda to keep Altantuya from harassing him and his family, had said Rosmah refused to let the men pay Altantuya any commission at all.

Altantuya had been blackmailing Baginda and threatened to blow the whistle on the entire deal. It is believed she was killed for this reason.

Malaysia Chronicle appends below the statement released by Balasubramaniam after his interview with the French prosecutors. This is his account of what transpired during the interview.

Place of interview: Direction Centrale de la Police Judiciare DNIF, Nanterre, Paris. Interviewed by M Ryckewaert assisted by an English interpreter and another officer. Interview conducted in French through the English interpreter.

Observation: The French investigator appeared to be very familiar with the events inMalaysia relating to the Altantuya murder. The interview however centred on the Scorpene submarine deal and the alleged commission paid in connection with that.

The following were the areas covered in the interview.

1) My background [including date and place of birth] and my occupation from the time I was with the Malaysian police to the time when I became a private investigator in 1998.

2) The validity of my PI (private investigator) licence.

3) The whole story as to how I was recruited to do a job for Razak Baginda and my interview before the job done by Dhirren Norendra, a lawyer practising in Kuala Lumpur. I was questioned about the scope of my assignment, the target and objectives of my assignment.

4) The background to the Altantuya murder. I briefed them on the events leading up to and after the murder and also told them to read my first SD (statutory declaration) and the Singapore interview. Also the identity of the two police officers convicted of the murder, who they worked for as well as the identity of the various other people identified as being about when Altantunya disappeared and their link to Razak Baginda and/or the PM (prime minister).

5) Razak Baginda's relationship with our present PM, the information and events narrated to me by Razak Baginda including the SMS sent by the PM to Razak Baginda at the point of his arrest for the murder of Altantuya.

6) The Malaysian company, Perimekar, its ownership, and link to Razak Baginda and his wife. Also nature of business undertaken by Perimekar. I told them of the presence of army equipment in Razak Baginda's office. Information concerning Razak Baginda and his present whereabouts.

7) Financial payments by Razak Baginda to Altantuya, including the three US$5,000 payments by Baginda to Altantuya, which included a penalty of US$1,000 because of late banking in. Also the purchase by Razak Baginda of an apartment in Mongolia for Altantuya. Also the background to the US$500,000 payment demanded by Altantuya, how it arose, its link to the Scorpene submarine deal, Altanunya's involvement in the negotiations, and admission and confirmation by Razak Baginda that he should have paid Altantuya the money.

8) How Rosmah Mansor teamed up with Deepak to exile me from Malaysia, the threats to my family after I signed the first SD as well as the involvement of the PM's brother in the events that led to the second SD and my being smuggled out of Malaysia and asked to stay away till Najib Razak became PM.

9) I was asked to retrace the events in Rawang coffee house where Deepak, Dinesh and ASP Suresh were present.

10) The length and time I have been in exile.

11) Details concerning Altantuya's cousin, Ammy, who had knowledge of the Paris dinner where the PM and Razak Baginda were present with Altantuya.

12) The identity of the French individuals involved in the Scorpene deal.

13) My knowledge of any payments by the French to Perimekar and information given to me by Altantuya that her US$500,000 was because of the successful deal concerning the Scorpene submarine transaction.

14) The identity, background and involvement of two Malaysians identified as Major Rahim and Abdul Rahim Saad.

15) Altantuya's family background.

16) My links with Suaram, if any.

17) The need for justice to be served for the Altantuya murder and the truth to be told concerning the Scorpene deal.

I signed the statement that the French officer recorded.

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French courts to call Najib, Baginda as witnesses

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is in a pickle. He has been accused of plotting sexcapades to bring down his arch enemy Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim. His UMNO party has been busily making allegations of immorality and demanding that Anwar resign to spare the country shame.

But it looks like it is Najib himself who will again put the country in the greatest media spotlight and of the negative sort.

It is almost certain that as the main protagonist, he will be called by the French courts to testify over a suspiciously expensive acquisition of 2 Scorpene and one Agosta submarines in 2002.

The Malaysian leader faces allegations of having received kickbacks, whether directly or indirectly, from French arms-maker DCN.

"Our lawyers have advised us that it could take anything from the next few weeks or the next couple of months until a judge is appointed for the open trial in France," SUARAM director Cynthia Gabriel told a press conference on Monday.

According to Cynthia, SUARAM lawyers had informed that the inquiry stage by the Parisian legal authorities was nearing an end, and the next move would be the "full trial" stage, where witnesses will be called.

Murder

In Malaysia, the 58-year old Najib has leveraged on his ruling party and political connections to cover up the case, even though it also included a full-blown murder case.

A 28-year old Mongolian translator, alleged to be his former mistress and the jilted lover of his close friend Razak Baginda, was shot in the head and blown up with military-grade C4 explosives by two of his former bodyguards.

Information gleaned from the letters she wrote showed that Altantuya Shaariibuu had come to Kuala Lumpur in 2006 to demand her US$500,000 share of the commission paid by DCN. But according a private investigator hired by Baginda, Najib's wife Rosmah forbade the men to pay her a cent.

Baginda has been accused of being Najib's proxy in the kickbacks. Perimekar, a firm with no track record and connected to him, received a side-deal worth 114 million euros or about RM530 million to service the submarines.

Furthermore, the proceedings in France have found that three commissions instead of one were paid for the sale of the submarines.

"In addition to that of 114 million euros, there are two further instalments, one paid by DCN to the commercial networks of Thalès, for over 30 million euros, corresponding to "commercial fees relating to the negotiation and execution of the contract," another SUARAM director Kua Kia Soong said in a statement.

"This second commission was paid by Thalès to a recipient, who remains unknown, in order to convince the Malaysian government of the need to conduct additional work. The third commission was for 2.5 million euros."

It was also found that Gifen, a company established in Malta, facilitated the "money transfers in this case", and particularly financed the trips of Baginda and Altantuya.

Mystery new link to Najib

Last week, Cynthia told Malaysia Chronicle that their lawyers have since received knowledge of a "third person" who travelled frequently with Baginda and Altantuya during the negotiations with DCN.

She declined to name the person, but speculation is rife that this was another link to Najib, who had been the Defense minister in 2002 and had directly sanctioned the purchase.

The French courts can be expected to demand information from DCN, Najib and Baginda as to whether Altantuya had indeed played a role in the submarines deal. At the very least, the money transfers by Gifen would require an explanation for her role in the acquisition.

In her murder trial, the Malaysian courts refused to allow any mention of the submarines despite the high probability there was  a connection to her death.

"The submarine deal was never brought up in court during the murder trial which saw prosecutors, defense attorneys and the judge judiciously keeping Najib's name out of the proceedings," said Kua.

"After being acquitted in November 2008 under questionable circumstances of participating in her murder, Razak Baginda left the country for England. The bodyguards were convicted but no motive was ever established for their actions."

Malaysians will faint

Knowing their PM, few Malaysians expect Najib or Baginda will attend the trial. The French courts have no jurisdiction to force their appearance but it can demand the truth from DCN.

"If Najib goes, I think Malaysians will faint. But it is very odd when a deal of such a huge size involving the country's money, and the parties involved are giant world conglomerates, that a Prime Minister chickens out. Especially when he was the one who was in charge," PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

"If Najib does that, he has already told the world he is guilty as charged. Malaysians and UMNO itself must then demand his immediate resignation. A full probe by the Malaysian Anti Corrutpion Commission must also be carried out."

Just a day ago, current Defense minister Zahid Hamidi gave a hint as to what the Najib response was likely to be. Zahid will be made the sacrificial lamb and tasked to appear in the French courts, rather than Najib. But even this is likely to be cancelled as Zahid himself has hinted.

“If the Cabinet doesn’t allow it, then I don’t have to go,” Zahid told reporters on Sunday.

SUARAM's French lawyers are due to arrive in KL to brief their client and other citizen groups in July. The NGO is Malaysia's top human rights activist group. It got into the act after failing to get satisfactory answers from the government. Protest by citizens' groups were similarly ignored and even opposition politicians were stonewalled when they asked 'tough' question of the RM6.7 billion purchase in Parliament.

"SUARAM hopes the French justice system will reveal more than what the Malaysian judicial system has failed to deliver so far and will bring justice and closure to the family of Altantuya, and force the French and Malaysian Governments to account to their peoples regarding the commissions on the submarines contract," said Kua.   

The NGO has also started a fund for its French legal fees and aims to raise RM100,000. Parisian lawyer William Bourdon, who is pursuing the case, will attend and give the latest update. The functions will be hed in Penang on July 21 and in Kuala Lumpur on July 23.

Those who wish to donate can bank into OpsScorpene Legal Fund-Payee Name: SUARA INISIATIF SDN BHD A/C No:0300 0065 200-Hong Leong Bank and get further information from the SUARAM website.

“RM100,000 will not amount to much in euros and is just a starting fund. We expect we will have to continue to raise funds as the case proceeds,” said Cynthia.

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