Firm implicated in Lafayette scandal

The leader of a Control Yuan task force investigating a navy hardware purchasing scandal says documents indicate a Luxembourg-based financial company had accepted huge deposits from Taiwan, which were likely used as kickbacks.

Kang Ning-hsiang (康寧祥) also told the body that an explanation as to the flow of commissions in the French frigates purchase scandal will soon be disclosed.

Kang just returned from an investigative tour in Europe a week ago. He said that on the trip he obtained key documents concerning the commissions involved in the arms purchase scandals.

Kang said three senior officials of the Luxembourg company, Clearstream International, were fired after the money-laundering was detected.

Kang also told the Control Yuan that the indicted former head of the Naval Vessels Management Office, Vice Admiral Lei Hsueh-ming (雷學明), said that he had acted on orders from superiors. But Kang declined to comment on whether the task force's findings confirmed Lei's claim.

After nearly a year of investigation, the prosecution on Thursday indicted six former naval officers for their alleged involvement in the scandal. According to the prosecutors, the officers forged data and inflated the prices of frigate hardware to illegally benefit French manufacturer Thomson CSF, now called Thales, to the tune of FF2.4 billion, or NT$10.8 billion.

But the prosecution failed to indicate whether kickbacks had gone into the pockets of the officials it indicted, leading to speculation that prosecutors closed the case all too hastily. Lei was the highest-ranking officer of the six; the prosecutors in the indictment requested that he be sentenced to 14 years. He and other indicted persons have voiced objections to the indictments.

Kang yesterday said he regretted the need for the indictments.

"They were among the most outstanding officers in the military services and they had great skills in international negotia-tions," Kang said.

He said the task force has located other key suspects and that he was optimistic their involvement would soon be revealed.

Roland Dumas was sentenced to six months in May for receiving bribes from the formerly state-owned French oil giant Elf Aquitaine.

Meanwhile, Hsieh Tsung-min (謝聰敏), national policy adviser to the president and a consultant to the Ministry of Justice who has been devoted to the investigation of the scandal, called on those indicted on Thursday to tell the truth and help investigators get to the bottom of the issue of commissions and to prove their innocence.

He also called on the Taiwan's judiciary to seek cooperation with its French counterpart.