The Ministry of Justice yesterday confirmed that progress has been made in its pursuit of illegal payments made in the long-running Lafayette frigate scandal.
Switzerland on Thursday announced that it would return part of the US$900 million it confiscated over corruption allegations linked to the case, which dates back three decades.
“In the frigates case, Switzerland will restitute nearly US$266 million to Taiwan,” the Swiss Department of Justice and Police said in a statement, referring to the “illegal commissions” paid during a US$2.8 billion deal to buy six Lafayette-class frigates in 1991.
The statement said the restitution was made possible under a ruling by Taiwan’s Supreme Court in late 2019 that confirmed the illegal provenance of the funds and ordered their confiscation.
However, the statement also said the court ruling had not proven that the other frozen funds were derived from corruption, so “the sequestration of these assets will be lifted.”
It implied that it could be the last restitution by Switzerland in the corruption case.
The ministry said that Taiwan and Switzerland have mutual legal assistance in criminal matters.
Such mutual aid “will continue in terms of the [Lafayette] case,” it added.
As progress has been made, the prosecuting authorities responsible for the case will address follow-up matters and provide legal assistance any time it is required, so the illicit assets are returned as soon as possible, it said.
The high-profile case involves French former state-owned firm Elf Aquitaine, which allegedly paid bribes — which ended up in Swiss bank accounts — to persuade French and Taiwanese authorities to approve the sale of the frigates.
The warships were sold via another French firm, Thomson-CSF (now Thales), to Taiwan’s navy in a US$2.8 billion deal in 1991, a price said to include kickbacks and bribes that facilitated the purchase.
In 2001, Taiwan submitted a request to Switzerland for legal assistance about the suspected kickbacks.
In 2005, Switzerland froze almost US$900 million in assets and handed over to Taiwan numerous documents concerning blocked bank accounts.
In 2007, Switzerland, with the agreement of the account holders, returned a first tranche of US$34 million to Taiwanese authorities.
Of the US$900 million in illicit funds related to the Lafayette scandal, about US$487 million went to deceased arms broker Andrew Wang (汪傳浦) in the form of kickbacks, which were deposited in several countries, mainly in Switzerland, Taipei District Court information showed.
Charges against Wang, wanted over the kickbacks and his role in the death of navy officer Yin Ching-feng (尹清楓) in 1993, were dropped after Taiwanese officials based in London confirmed his death in the UK in 2015.
Yin is widely believed to have been murdered because he was ready to blow the whistle on those who accepted kickbacks in the frigate deal.
In April 2014, the Supreme Court sentenced former navy captain Kuo Li-heng (郭力恆) to 15 years in prison for accepting US$17 million in kickbacks in connection with the frigate deal.
The court also ordered Kuo and Wang to return US$340 million frozen in foreign bank accounts.
The now-disbanded Special Investigation Division of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office filed a request with the Taipei District Court to seize Wang’s illicit profits on July 1, 2016, after a legal amendment took effect that day, allowing courts to order the confiscation of alleged illegal profits without a criminal conviction or sentencing.
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