France’s mammoth Elf corruption case, probably the biggest political and corporate sleaze scandal to hit a Western democracy since World War II, drew to a close this week as three key former executives of the oil giant were jailed for up to five years.
Elf’s former chairperson, Loik Le Floch-Prigent (60), was sentenced to five years in jail and fined â,¬375 000; former director Alfred Sirven was given the same prison term and ordered to pay £1-million. Elf’s ”Mr Africa”, André Tarallo, was jailed for four years and fined â,¬2-million.
Tarallo told the court in June that annual cash transfers totalling about £10-million were made to Gabon’s president, while other huge sums were paid to leaders in Angola, Cameroon and Congo-Brazzaville. The multimillion-dollar payments were partly aimed at guaranteeing African leaders’ continued allegiance to France.
The three were among 37 defendants on trial for illegally siphoning off an extraordinary £350-million of the then state-owned company’s funds from 1989 to 1993. The never-ending stream of cash was used to buy political favours at home and abroad, and to fund extravagant lifestyles.
Elf, now privatised and part of the Total group, paid ”at the very least” £5-million a year to all the main French political parties to buy their support, Le Floch told the court. — Â