(PFG-1208) In 1998, former French foreign minister
Roland Dumas alleged that a US$500 million commission was paid by Thomson-CSF (now Thales) to French and Taiwanese officials, to facilitate the $3 billion sale of 6
La Fayette-class frigates to the
Taiwanese Navy. Eight people involved in the contract died in unusual and possibly suspicious circumstances. Taiwanese arms dealer Andrew Wang, who was implicated as being part of the affair, fled Taiwan to the UK, after the body of presumptive whistleblower Captain Yin Ching-feng was found in the ocean. In 2001, Swiss authorities froze accounts held by Andrew Wang and his family in connection with the Taiwan frigate scandal. Politician
James Soong has been implicated in the Taiwan frigate scandal, in 2022 a relevant bank account was revealed as part of the
Suisse secrets leaks. Six ROC naval officers were indicted on corruption charges relating to the affair. In 2006, Andrew Wang, his wife, and their four children were indicted by Taiwanese prosecutors on charges of bribery, money laundering and related illegal actions. In 2010, a court in
Jersey seized $6.87 million from accounts controlled by the Wang family at the request of Taiwanese authorities. Accounts in Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg, and Saudi Arabia were also identified by investigators. The Jersey court authorized the seizure under “Proceeds of Crime (Jersey) Law 1999” and “Proceeds of Crime (Enforcement of Confiscation Orders) (Jersey) Regulations 2008.” In 2003, the Taiwanese Navy sued Thomson-CSF (Thales) to recover an alleged $590 million in
kickbacks, paid to French and Taiwanese officials as bribes to facilitate the 1991
La Fayette deal, as Taiwan had initially been reluctant to purchase the frigates. The kickback money was deposited in Swiss banks, and under the corruption investigation, Swiss authorities froze approximately $730 million in over 60 accounts. In June 2007 the Swiss authority returned $34 million from frozen accounts to Taiwan, with additional funds pending. Andrew Wang died in the UK in 2015 and collection efforts continued against his family. In February 2021, the
Federal Department of Justice and Police said that Switzerland will restitute nearly US$266 million to Taiwan. In July 2021 a Taiwanese high court ordered the return of US$520 million of illegal proceeds from the scandal which was in addition to the US$312.5 million ordered returned in 2017. In 2022, the
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project reported that
James Soong had an account at Credit Suisse, which was revealed in the
Suisse Secrets leak, connected to the scandal. Soong was the Secretary General of the ruling KMT party at the time kickbacks were being paid out. The millions of USD in the account could not be explained by Soong's reported earnings. In 2023,
Switzerland returned $138 million to Taiwan in connection with the scandal and kept the other half as per its agreement with Taiwan. In December 2022, the Taiwanese Constitutional Court rejected a case brought by Andrew Wang's heirs challenging the government's seizure of NT$14.65 billion from the deal. The judges ruled the seizure to be constitutional. == Impact ==