User:Vycl1994/La Fayette-class frigate scandal

The Taiwan La Fayette frigate scandal was a scandal involving France (Elf Aquitaine) Luxemburg (Clearstream), Switzerland (many bank accounts), and Taiwan (Navy).

In 1991, the Taiwan Navy ordered six frigates through military contractor Thomson-CSF (now Thales) with an estimated USD$2.8 billion dollars. Weapons were to be added on later by China SB Corporation at Kaosiung. The scandal of the deal is that commissions were paid to inmediaries in order the secure the contract.

The sale was opposed by former foreign minister Roland Dumas as he wished to maintain good French-Chinese relations as the purchase' main reason was for defense in the Taiwan Strait. Investigations found that Deviers-Jouncour received money from the Elf fraud scandal, mainly to lobby for her lover, Dumas, so that he could oppose the sales of frigates to Taiwan. Dumas eventually dropped his opposition and the frigates were sold. Alledgedly, 3 million francs were moved to Dumas' account between 1991 and 1996, which he claimed were from sales from his art collection when questioned by magistrate Eva Joly.

Dumas claims to have seen the reciepient list for the commissions, and hints that if the recipients were disclosed, it would cause an international crisis.

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Former French foreign minister Dumas claimed that US$500 million commission was paid by Thomson-CSF (now Thales), the prime contractor.

Eight people involved in the contract died in unusual and possibly suspicious circumstances.

Six ROC naval officers were indicted on corruption charges relating to the affair.

In 2003, the Taiwanese Navy sued Thomson-CSF (Thales) to recover alleged $590 million in kickbacks, paid to French and Taiwanese officials to grease the 1991 La Fayette deal.

The kickback money was deposited in Swiss banks, and under the corruption investigation, Swiss authorities froze approx. $730 million in over 60 accounts. In June 2007 the Swiss authority returned $34 million from frozen accounts to Taiwan, with additional funds pending.

In February 2021, the Federal Department of Justice and Police said that Switzerland will restitute nearly US$266 million to Taiwan.

The Clearstream Affair Between 2001 and 2002, two books were published by co-authors Denis Robert and Ernest Backes, entitled Révélation$ and La Boîte Noire, accusing Clearstream of being a money laundering organisation and the worldwide centre for international financial crime committed by major banks, shell companies, and organised crime all over the world. An investigation opened by the Luxembourg authorities in 2001 found no evidence to support the authors' allegations, and the case was dismissed in 2004.

In 2004, a list leaked to a French judge indicated that Clearstream was a money laundering organisation covering illegal activities of French businessmen who were involved in the sale of warships by the French defence giant Thales (known as Thomson-CSF before 2000) to Taiwan, and related bribes paid to French officials and businessmen. An investigation that included the search of Clearstream's premises and an examination of accounts in 2004 found no evidence supporting the accusations.

In the same year, additional anonymous letters and CD-Roms sent to French judges accused Clearstream of running secret accounts for criminals and senior French politicians. In late 2005, French investigating authorities officially declared the documents forgeries and dismissed the case.

The controversy inspired the film The Clearstream Affair (2014).

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Laurence Vichnievsky Christine Deviers-Joncour