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| Europe |
| French Euro-MP cited in Elf scam probe |
| 2004-02-02 |
| More on the interesting year in French politics .... and indirectly in re: EU financial corruption probes too French Euro-MP Jean-Charles Marchiani has been placed under investigation for alleged misappropriation of funds concerning commissions paid by the oil group Elf in its Nigeria operations, he said Saturday. Marchiani confirmed a report in Saturday’s Le Monde newspaper that said he was being probed by a Paris judge who suspects him of having received five million dollars in commission from Elf in connection with a contract in Nigeria. But Marchiani told AFP: "I confirmed (to the judge) that I did not receive a single cent from Elf or from any of its subsidiaries." In November a Paris court handed stiff jail terms to three former top executives at the French oil giant, bringing to a close a trial that exposed unprecedented corruption at the once state-owned firm. Twenty-seven other defendants in the mammoth corruption case received lesser punishments ranging from three years in prison to suspended sentences, and were ordered to pay fines. Elf, which was privatized in 1994, is now part of French giant Total - formerly known as TotalFinaElf. |
| Posted by:rkb |
| #5 I thought the elves made cookies and lived in a tree. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-2-2 5:37:43 PM |
| #4 "said he was being probed by a Paris judge" Sounds erotically painful. |
| Posted by: Raptor 2004-2-2 2:23:40 PM |
| #3 Jean-Charles Marchiani has a looooong history of being involved in cloak & dagger affairs, dating from the Lebanon war, IIRC; he also negotiated the liberation of two french airmen captured by the serbs. There is more I think, arms smuggling to Liberia?, but I would have to dig into my "canard enchainé" collection... What's sure, is that he's knee-deep in oil and corruption, with a strong secret service flavor, the true mark of Elf. Btw, he's a close buddy of Charles Pasqua, the ex-interior minister named as one of Saddam's "friends". |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2004-2-2 12:47:24 PM |
| #2 "Elf scam" Hi. My name is Legolas and we have a very important mission that I cannot elaborate on for security reasons. Please give me a thousand castars. The transaction will be totally secure. |
| Posted by: Steve from Relto 2004-2-2 12:26:30 PM |
| #1 I thought I was the only one contacted by a Nigerian treasury offical about the transfer of funds.... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-2-2 11:45:42 AM |