L’Express – December 5 – Another hard blow for Total? The Helvetian police discovered 41 million Swiss Francs on a mysterious account, which could have been used by the oil company to obtain an oil contract from Tehran. A preliminary investigation could start in Paris.
The oil group Total allegedly paid various officials in Tehran over 40 million Swiss Francs (30 million euros) in order to obtain oil contract in Iran. This is what a 5-page report reveals. Lausanne’s federal prosecutor, Patrick Lamon, has recently sent it to the French investigating magistrate, Philippe Courroye.
December 2004: The Helvetian police discovered that staggering sums (41 million Swiss francs) had been paid between December 1, 1998 and August 15, 2003 into a mysterious Siakal account, opened at the Bank Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch et Cie, in Geneva. Where did this treasure come from? The people in charge of the investigation soon realized that it came from the group Total and that it had previously passed in transit through a Crédit Suisse account in Geneva. To what end? To get an oil contract from Tehran in South Pars oil field in Iran. The Swiss judiciary views in this contract the payment of an illicit commission, in order to make a deal in Iran. Moreover, the economic beneficiary of the Siakal account, an Iranian man identified as Bijan Dadfar, has nothing to do with the oil industry… He might be a close friend of Rafsanjani family.
According to the federal prosecutor of Lausanne, Total could be accused in Switzerland of corruption of foreign public officials. Whereas in France, the case could be considered as influence peddling and misuse of company property. If an investigation was to start in Paris, which the Swiss judicial authorities apparently want, it would constitute another hard blow for Total, which has recently been shaken by the indictment of two of its managers in the investigation “Oil for food” in Iraq… conducted by Judge Courroye.