French Prosecutors Claim Najib Had Role in 2002 Submarine Deal Bribes
Allegations against former Malaysian prime minister are in 2024 court document. Prosecutors haven’t recommended that Najib stands trial.
A Malaysia Scorpene-class submarines at Pulau Indah Naval Base in 2009.
Photographer: Ahmad Yusni/EPA/Shutterstock
French financial prosecutors alleged in an investigative document last year that former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak met defense-company executives to prepare contracts before the 2002 signing of a $1.2 billion submarine deal. Those contracts, they say in the document seen by Bloomberg News, were designed to remunerate himself and others.
The allegation came to light as part of a summary by French financial prosecutors of a wider case that has engulfed French defense firm Thales SA and also DCN International (DCNI), an entity that’s now part of Paris-based Naval Group. In the document, which isn’t public, the Parquet National Financier recommended a criminal trial for former Najib adviser Abdul Razak Baginda and other individuals involved in the case, as well as DCNI, Thales and two other Thales entities.