The President is an oil industry pawn!

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2003-03-31 06:03pm

...of France, that is.

PARIS - The former president of Elf Aquitaine testified Monday that the French oil giant paid about $5 million to French political parties during his leadership - including to President Jacques Chirac's former party.

Loik Le Floch-Prigent said nearly all the money went to Chirac's former party until then-President Francois Mitterrand, a Socialist, demanded the cash be spread to both sides of the political spectrum. Chirac, a conservative, succeeded Mitterrand as president in 1995.

"We absolutely needed French politicians who supported us," Le Floch-Prigent testified. "There were politicians who didn't want to favor Elf ... We had to keep them quiet, to have them on our side."

Chirac's office had no immediate comment on Monday's testimony.

Le Floch-Prigent was Elf's president from 1989 to 1993. He is one of 37 former top officials on trial over allegations that Elf, once France's largest company, paid and received enormous commissions and used inflated bills and other devices to enrich a chosen few.

Le Floch-Prigent testified March 19 that leaders of African nations where Elf did business were among the beneficiaries of lucrative commissions.

Le Floch-Prigent faces myriad charges, including abuse of company funds, publication of false information and presentation of inaccurate accounts.

During his leadership, the state-run company allegedly misused more than $145 million in public funds. Elf was privatized in 1994 and taken over in 1999 by TotalFina, making it a French-Belgian concern.

Le Floch-Prigent's testimony was certain to rattle France's political elite. Chirac's office had no immediate comment on the testimony.

Le Floch-Prigent testified that, under his leadership, Elf paid parties in the political right, including Chirac's Rally for the Republic, and left. The funds were skimmed off commissions paid on oil deals, he said.

A previous corruption case that centered on Elf, one of the world's largest oil companies, ended in January. Le Floch-Prigent is serving a 30-month jail term from that trial and faces five years in prison if convicted this time.

Le Floch-Prigent said the man once known within Elf as "Mr. Africa," Andre Tarallo, took care of parties on the right, while Alfred Sirven, the former No. 2 man, handled the left.

Tarallo and Sirven are among the top defendants in the case. Sirven fled France but was arrested in the Philippines in 2001 and received a three-year sentence in the earlier trial.

Le Floch-Prigent was first jailed for questioning in the case in 1996, when he headed the state-run train authority, the SNCF.

Linkage

Fixed annoying, long, unwrapped link.
-Durandal

Montcalm · Post by **Montcalm** » 2003-03-31 06:25pm

Its a normal thing big companies buy politicians.

Andrew J. · Post by **Andrew J.** » 2003-03-31 08:01pm

See? France isn't so different from the United States after all...

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2003-03-31 11:34pm

Andrew J. wrote:See? France isn't so different from the United States after all...

I think that's one of the things that bothers them about the U.S.

Stuart Mackey · Post by **Stuart Mackey** » 2003-04-02 05:20am

Montcalm wrote:Its a normal thing big companies buy politicians.

Not in my part of the world..well not like that.

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2003-04-02 06:33am

Stuart Mackey wrote:
Montcalm wrote:Its a normal thing big companies buy politicians.
Not in my part of the world..well not like that.

and that part of the world is....Antartica?

Stuart Mackey · Post by **Stuart Mackey** » 2003-04-02 06:44am

Col. Crackpot wrote:
Stuart Mackey wrote:
Montcalm wrote:Its a normal thing big companies buy politicians.
Not in my part of the world..well not like that.
and that part of the world is....Antartica?

New Zealand actually. There is a reason why we are one of, if not the, least corrupt nations around.