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PI Bala – The good, the bad and the ugly

Jun 28, 2021

Private Investigator Bala

The Malaysian corruption, TNT & submarine story

PI bala, private investigator bala, P.I. bala, perumal balasubrahamniam

Imagine an explosion goes off in a rural area of Malaysia. Someone dies. The dust settles, 2 men walk away as the sunsets in Malaysia, the chirping of bugs & the low volume murmurs of the men are barely audible. They are government employees, the woman a Mongolian working as a translator in Malaysia. Not long before there were high level talks about the purchase of French Submarines. Years later a Private Investigator is getting ready to make a statement on what he knows about it. Your now inducted into the Malaysian corruption, TNT & submarine story, it only gets weirder from here. 




Perumal Balasubramaniam aka PI Bala (pictured above) was a Private Investigator (among other titles) whom was a key witness in a the murder of Shaariibuugin Altanyaa (a Mongolian National) in Malaysia near Kuala Lumpur. PI Bala was an experienced ex-police officer and had worked for many years in the Private Sector. 

dcns submarines, french

The murder which occurred 18/10/2006 was and still is a highly controversial topic. The woman was killed using some type of explosives or potentially killed and her remains destroyed with explosives, a detail we still don't know for certain however one of the individuals involved who has now been convicted claims she was shot first. Perumal was a translator whom was allegedly blackmailing Abdul Razak Baginda whom she was introduced to by former Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak. This was because Baginda had allegedly been involved in an under the table deal worth millions of euros due to his involvement in the purchase of 3 DCNS submarines (pictured right). French investigators confirmed Perumal was Baginda's translator. A 2010 data leak published by a Journalist showed documents which appeared to confirm the bribery. 

Malaysian Submarine Corruption article


Of particular note is a similar case in Brazil involving DCNS submarines.


PI Bala was an experienced investigator and previous member of the Royal Malaysia Police he was a respected witness and so his Statutory Deceleration which implicated the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia at the time sent shock waves internationally.


His declaration on 01/07/2008 meant he had made some powerful enemies and there are rumours he was offered 5 million RM (£873,000, $1.2M) to retract the statement. 

sirul azhar umar, murder, charged, accused

The accused at the time Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar's (pictured left) defence against the allegations was somewhat dependant on PI Bala's statement claiming others were involved. This makes sense knowing what we now of the Government involved under the table deals and the fact both individuals involved were Government employees. We can see why and how these two individuals may have come to be hired to murder Perumal.


Subsequently before the trials conclusion PI Bala made a second statement on 04/07/2009 retracting what he had previously stated. 


He then immediately fled the country to Chennai India & retired his career as a Private Investigator.

That was until returning to Malaysia in February 2013 with a third statement retracting the second. He claimed he was threatened and could no longer stay in Malaysia. He subsequently died the next month from a myocardial infarction 15/03/2013.


Although it is a messy story with many twists and turns we are proud to say PI Bala did try to do the right thing from the outset. Unfortunately it appears he was coerced into changing his statement.


Then what we can only assume was due to ill health decided to come out once and for all to clarify. A common theme amongst those who are reaching the end of their lives, setting the record straight.


PI Bala's family have now sued for damages due to the exile from Razak. Private Investigator Bala's lawyer Americk Singh Sidhu (Barrister) attended a Tribunal in France regarding the Paris Scorpène Submarine deal and allegations of corruption in July 2013 however with the 2017 Brazil Submarine allegation it appears not much must have been learnt from it. The Tribunal was set to explore Altanyaa's death in relation to the corruption. There has yet to be any public release of information regarding the outcome of the tribunal.

What can we learn from this?


The political situation as well as the levels of corruption in a country can make it impossible or highly inadvisable to speak the truth. PI Bala fled the country and lost the last 4 years of his life in hiding in Chennai because he decided to reveal what was happening, unfortunately he implicated powerful people. The French sales/negotiators involved in the sales of these submarines have a level of responsibility. PI's all over the world should be very careful when challenging these types of individuals or exposing information. Although reputable investigators are against corruption and not too dissimilar from investigative journalists in some sense have a duty to the public when the circumstances present themselves, they should always protect themselves first. The repercussions in PI Bala's case are not the worst however unacceptable for telling the truth.


The take away


Be careful what you say or state. Especially if you live in a country where threats and murders do happen. PI's are involved invariably in these kinds of cases where wrong-doing or corruption is involved. If your hired by Private Clients, sometimes its best kept Private.


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