The New French Word Game: Elf, Dumas, Offshore, Embezzlement, Scandal, Sirven, . . . . . . . .?

Ulrika Lomas, Tax-news.com, Brussels

06 February 2001

Spending nearly four years on the run from the French government doesn't appear to have made 74-year-old Alfred Sirven bitter this week as he threatens to spill the beans on the corrupt shenanigans of French government officials and the private sector.

The French police finally caught up with Servin in the Philippines last week and he is now awaiting trial on charges relating to the Elf Aquitaine scandal in which he has been accused of, among other things, using Elf funds to 'buy' French politicians and corporate executives while he was Elf's director of general affairs.

It has been claimed by Christine Deviers-Joncour, former mistress of Roland Dumas (both of whom are already on trial in the affair), that Sirven paid commissions worth £6 million into her Swiss bank accounts. She also alleges that she was 'given' the job by Sirven and Dumas. The prosecution is still adding names to a list of people given fictitious jobs at Elf in return for political and business favours, many of whom were closely linked to high-ranking politicians such as Charles Pasqua, ex-interior minister, and even the late president, Francois Mitterrand.

Sirven's offshore bank accounts are also high on the prosecution's agenda. Sirven not only used Swiss banks but also over FFr2bn of Elf cash was supposedly divided by him between havens such as Monaco, the British Virgin Islands and the Bahamas.

It is hoped that Sirven will shed some light on the activities of the state-owned oil company, which are shrouded in a very heavy cloak of mystery. Now the focus of one of France's biggest political scandals, Elf appears to have led a very colourful history until it was taken over two years ago by Totalfina.

The Elf Aquitaine story is a complex web of intrigue and even with Sirven's testimony it is unlikely that the French authorities will get to the very bottom of it. Founded over thirty years ago, Elf was created by the government to secure independent energy resources for the country. Mysterious deals were struck with some of France's ex-colonies in Africa where it established a widespread presence and wielded great corporate power, 'influencing' many African politicians to promote 'French interests.'

In the process, Elf funds found their way around the world and then back to France where significant amounts were believed to have funded France's right-wing political parties. Rumours followed Elf's chairman (1989-1993) Loik Le Floch Prigent around pertaining to 'embezzlement' and 'retro-bonuses' and he was arrested in 1996 for suspicious activities on the French stock exchange. In addition, the prosecution believes that Elf was involved in various political hot potatoes, for instance mediating between the Taiwanese military force and the French arms group Thomson-CSF by lobbying Mr Dumas via his mistress and Elf worker, Deviers-Joncour.

Confused? If Sirven lives up to his threat to lift the lid on this can of worms it may get a lot more perplexing. But first the French authorities need to actually get him into the country, which was going smoothly until he was detained in Germany yesterday (en route to France from the Philippines) for questioning in connection with illegal commissions paid by Elf to the Christian Democrat Union party over the sale of the East German Leuna oil refinery in 1992.

Germany, 1 - Inspector Clouseau, 0. Still, there are probably a good few people in France who can usefully spend the next few days burning documents and polishing their stories in advance of Sirven's testimony when he once reaches the French courtroom.

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