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Lafayette probe to conclude soon: Wu

The investigation into the Lafayette-class frigate scandal will wrap up soon, State Public Prosecutor-General Wu Ying-chao (吳英昭) said on Thursday.

In an interview with the Central News Agency, Wu said the Lafayette investigation panel has spent nearly six months poring over a huge collection of bank files presented by Swiss authorities late last year.

"The arduous work has enabled investigators to piece together the contours of the complicated, snowballing case," Wu said.

He said investigators have concluded that Lafayette-linked illegal commissions and interest frozen in more than 40 bank accounts under the names of fugitive arms dealer Andrew Wang (汪傳浦) and various members of his family should amount to US$520 million.

The investigators have also discovered that Wang remitted US$20 million to former navy Captain Kuo Li-heng (郭立恆) -- who is serving a sentence after being convicted in another corruption scandal -- and his elder brother Kuo Wen-tien in attempts to bribe military officers to facilitate the Lafayette deal, Wu said.

Prosecutors have listed Wang and the Kuo brothers as "defendants" in the case, he said.

Asked whether any other government or military officials were involved, Wu declined to comment.

"You'll know when the time is ripe," he said.

Describing the complexity of the case, Wu said he felt "dizzy" when he first saw the huge piles of data and documents in the case.

Wu said that he had filed an application with Switzerland's justice ministry on Sept. 5 seeking to retrieve US$520 million in Lafayette-connected funds from a number of Swiss bank accounts.

The government is seeking the return of US$20 million in the Kuo brothers' Swiss bank accounts first, he said.
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