Paris (AFP)

Fictitious intermediaries, "luxurious gifts", travel dedicated to leisure: the French part of the investigation which led to the agreements to drop the lawsuits against Airbus, at the cost of fines of 3.6 billion euros, put in light of the facts of corruption in seven countries.

The investigation, carried out jointly by the French National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) with the British Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the United States Department of Justice (DoJ), led to the validation of agreements Friday ending the prosecution in the three countries.

It is in France that the European aircraft manufacturer must pay the heaviest amount: a "public interest fine" of 2.1 billion euros, to be paid to the Treasury within ten days as part of a judicial agreement of public interest (CJIP).

During the investigations in which Airbus actively collaborated, the judicial authorities of the three countries shared the work.

In France, the PNF and the police examined in particular "acts of bribery of foreign public officials and private bribery committed between 2004 and 2016 on the occasion of contracts for the sale of civil aircraft and satellites".

They uncovered fraudulent practices during sales campaigns in China, South Korea, Russia, Colombia as well as in Nepal, Taiwan and the Emirates, according to the approval order of the CJIP put in line by the French Anti-Corruption Agency (AFA).

In 2014, Airbus thus concluded two framework contracts with "the Chinese central authority" relating to the sale to airlines of the country of 113 A320 single-aisle and 27 A330, details the agreement.

To get them, the European aircraft manufacturer financed a cooperation fund of 24.2 million euros between 2012 and 2017. A portion was used "for the benefit of administrative agents and airline managers or Chinese public entities that played a role in the buying process, "point out the investigators.

- "Questionable" services -

The aircraft manufacturer also organized, for the benefit of Chinese officials and their entourage, "several trips to China and outside China composed mainly, if not exclusively of leisure activities (...), in addition to luxurious gifts and invitations for various events ".

Airbus also paid, "through a fictitious employment contract with a Lebanese company", 10.3 million euros to a Chinese commercial intermediary, part of which "was intended to be given to public officials Chinese ", details the convention.

At the heart of this system was an Airbus entity called Strategy and Marketing Organization (SMO), responsible for managing the intermediaries. The SMO has since been dissolved.

In South Korea, Airbus had agreed to pay $ 15 million to a former senior executive of the Korean Air airline in return for the sale of 10 Airbus A330s between 1996 and 2000.

In Taiwan, the aircraft manufacturer paid $ 7.5 million to an intermediary and $ 500,000 to another for their role in the sale of 20 A350s, six of which are optional, to China Airlines. Problem, notes the justice: "their contracts were signed after the conclusion of the sales campaign and mention remuneration substantially lower than those promised".

In Russia, for the sale of two satellites to the public operator RSCC, Airbus retroactively hired an intermediary in 2012 and paid him $ 8.7 million but "the headquarters of (his) company could not be identified, no account financial was not available and its ability to provide the services offered was questionable. "

At the end of the investigation, the French Anti-Corruption Agency considered the "compliance program" set up by Airbus to be "successful". However, the aircraft manufacturer had to agree to accept AFA audits at its expense for three years.

© 2020 AFP