Oh good. I get to use this one again.
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| Europe |
| New files 'link Chirac to secret Japanese bank account' |
| 2007-05-25 |
| Jacques Chirac came under renewed pressure yesterday to respond to allegations that he held a secret £30m account with a Japanese bank, amid reports that documents had emerged linking the former French president to the funds. Judges quizzed a retired senior intelligence officer for nine hours over documents, described as "explosive", linking Mr Chirac to the account. Police had swooped on the home of General Philippe Rondot, former head of the DGSE intelligence service, as part of another inquiry but found files labelled Japanese affair, PR1 affair and PR2 affair. PR stands for President of the Republic. The judges were unable to consult the documents until Mr Chirac handed over power to Nicolas Sarkozy on May 16. After opening the files - two days after he left the Elysée - they called an immediate emergency meeting and ordered Gen Rondot to appear for questioning. Inside the files they reportedly found details of an account allegedly opened in Mr Chirac's name at the Tokyo Sowa Bank in the 1990s and copies of statements. When allegations first emerged a year ago, Mr Chirac categorically denied having a bank account in Japan. His representatives continue to deny the allegations. However the former president, already facing questioning as part of an inquiry into corruption and abuse of public funds during his time as mayor of Paris from 1977-95, is likely to face fresh investigations when his immunity from prosecution as head of state expires on June 17. Judges had ordered raids on Gen Rondot's home and questioned the former head of France's DGSE - the equivalent of Britain's MI6 - last year as part of the Clearstream dirty tricks political scandal. When questioned then, Gen Rondot said intelligence agents had come across the Sowa Bank accounts in 1996 when investigating a Japanese businessman and friend of the president who wanted to invest in France. The general later retracted this, but among his copious handwritten notes, the judges stumbled across papers allegedly showing he had been asked by Mr Chirac in 2001 to find out if French intelligence was looking into claims of a Japanese account. A source told the French weekly paper Le Canard Enchainé that the two investigating judges were "persuaded of the existence of Chirac's Japanese account". The paper added: "Meticulous as he was, the general wasn't content just to collect these embarrassing documents; he also analysed their contents over 112 pages." |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #5 What good would keeping him stationary do, OP? |
| Posted by: Jackal 2007-05-25 22:18 |
| #4 Hangin's too good for Sh$$rack. He needs to be tied to the DeGaulle's propeller for a few years. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2007-05-25 17:09 |
| #3 Oh good. I get to use this one again. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-05-25 13:55 |
| #2 Overflow, or working funds maybe. There's more. Chirac's a traditionalist. I'd look for the big stash in Switzerland... |
| Posted by: mojo 2007-05-25 01:50 |
| #1 Only £30m? Piker... |
| Posted by: Ferdinand Marcos 2007-05-25 01:28 |