French judge files preliminary charges against oil giant Total in oil-for-food corruption case
By APTuesday, April 6, 2010
France’s Total faces corruption investigation
PARIS — A Paris judge has filed preliminary bribery charges against French oil giant Total SA in a corruption case linked to its role in the scandal-ridden U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq.
Total also faces preliminary charges of complicity and influence peddling in the case, according to details in the company’s annual financial report that it put online Friday.
Investigators suspect that millions of dollars were used as under-the-table commissions to obtain entry to countries like Iraq — then under a U.N. embargo.
Total insists it has abided by the rules of the U.N. oil-for-food program, which started in the 1990s and allowed Saddam Hussein to sell oil in exchange for humanitarian goods.
Preliminary charges give the magistrates more time to continue investigating.
