A Control Yuan task force yesterday said the government should sue to recover roughly US$26.75 million that was paid in kickbacks to secure the sale of six Lafayette-class frigates and other equipment a decade ago.
According to the task force, there's documented evidence of least US$25 million and FF12.7 million in kickbacks in the deal.
The task force said the navy should file the suit in the name of China Shipbuilding Corp (
But task force members yesterday did not say how much of the money had been paid out, or who received the funds.
Ku Teng-mei (
Investigators believe that as much as US$400 million was paid in illegal commissions.
The US$26.75 million amount is "just the part that has been confirmed," Ku said.
Papers documenting the kickback surfaced as a result of a Swiss court ruling.
According to Kang Ning-hsiang (
In that agreement, Frontier was to receive a 1 percent commission on the frigate sale should it push through the deal on the behalf of Thomson.
"The slush fund went through a money laundering process from south Europe to north Europe," Kang said.
Kang said Alfred Sirven, a former employee of Elf Aquitane, had played a key role in arranging and distributing the slush fund, some of which could have ended up in the pockets of dozens of top Taiwanese politicians and military officers.
Sirven was captured in the Philippines on Feb. 2 after four years on the run. Until 1996, he had been in charge of Elf's international activities.
In July 1991, Thomson and Taiwan's navy, in the name of the China Shipbuilding Corp, agreed to a US$2.5 billion price tag for the ships. In 1993, the contract was revised to include an additional FF1.27 billion.
But Frontier sold its contract with Thomson to Lisbon-based Brunner Sociedade Civil de Administracao Limitada, the Control Yuan task force said.
In November 1991, months after the French-Taiwan contract had been signed, Brunner asked Thomson for the 1 percent commission.
But Thomson refused to pay, saying Brunner had little influence in the outcome of the frigate sale.
The matter was taken to court in Switzerland. In July 1996, a court ruled that Thomson must pay the commission to Brunner, documents released by the Control Yuan said.
Asked whether ranking Taiwan officials had financial relationships with two banks involved in the laundering of the commissions, Kang said "it hasn't been ruled out."
Kang said a Paris court judge handling the case in France has said Taiwan's navy could sue Thomson to claim back the money Taiwan overpaid in the frigate sale.
A Navy spokesman said the Navy would consider the Control Yuan's recommendation that a lawsuit be filed.
Meanwhile, Joel Bucher, former deputy general manager of the French bank Societe Generale's Taipei branch, arrived in Taipei yesterday morning to assist the investigation.
The Investigation Bureau, under the Ministry of Justice, picked Bucher up at the airport upon his arrival and took him to a secure place where investigators could interview him privately, according to reports.
RSS