France may have to reimburse Taiwan US$600 million for breaches in a 1991 contract to build six frigates, Le Figaro reported yesterday, citing a public prosecutor’s office report to Justice Minister Dominique Perben.
Taiwan filed a lawsuit in November claiming illicit commission payments breached the terms of the frigate construction contract awarded to Thomson-CSF, now Thales SA, the newspaper reported.
The public prosecutor said in a January 15 report sent to Perben that France may be liable to repay the US$600 million in illicit commissions because it acted as guarantor for the frigate contract, Le Figaro said.
Magistrates Renaud van Ruymbeke and Dominique de Talance, who advised the public prosecutor, are about to make their fourth application to successive governments for the lifting of the official secrets act so they might investigate the illicit commissions paid to secure the contract, the newspaper said.