Total Officials in Bribes Probe (Froggy went a courtin')

Executives at French oil major Total have been detained for questioning as part of an investigation into transfers of millions of dollars in suspected bribes to win oil development rights in Russia and Iraq.

A spokeswoman for Total, the world's fourth-largest publicly traded oil company by market value, confirmed by telephone from Paris on Monday that French investigators had raided the company's headquarters and questioned several employees last week. But she said the probe targeted the activities of officials and not the company itself, and declined to comment further.

The French daily Le Monde, which first broke news of the probe last week, cited Total's former head of operations Jean-Michel Tournier as saying that the company had used a Geneva-based firm, Teliac SA, to funnel bribes to "certain beneficiaries" in return for gaining access to reserves in Russia and Iraq.

"Behind these beneficiaries, there was Russia and Iraq. If we had not paid, we would not have had any crude oil," Le Monde cited Tournier as saying.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that French investigators are looking into whether Total transferred as much as $20 million in bribes through Teliac to gain oil exploration permits in Russia and Iraq from 1996 to 2001. Investigators have questioned three former Total employees over the last few months in a probe headed by French magistrate Phillippe Courroye, the newspaper reported. Investigators have not disclosed into which particular deals they are looking.

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Froggy Went a Courtin'
(Words & music by Peretti / Creatori / Rodgers)

Froggy went a-courtin' and he did ride, A-hu
Froggy went a-courtin' and he did ride, A-hu
Froggy went a-courtin' and he did ride,
He had a nick-nack-nack by his side, A-hu, A-hu, A-hu

Froggy went a-courtin' and he did ride, A-hu
Froggy went a-courtin' and he did ride, A-hu
Froggy went a-courtin' and he did ride,
He had a nick-nack-nack by his side, A-hu, A-hu, A-hu

Froggy went a-courtin' and he did ride, A-hu
Froggy went a-courtin' and he did ride, A-hu
Froggy went a-courtin' and he did ride,
He had a nick-nack-nack by his side, A-hu, A-hu, A-hu

Froggy went a-courtin' and he did ride, A-hu
Froggy went a-courtin' and he did ride, A-hu
Froggy went a-courtin' and he did ride,
He had a nick-nack-nack by his side, A-hu, A-hu, A-hu

Froggy went a-courtin' and he did ride, A-hu
Froggy went a-courtin' and he did ride, A-hu
Froggy went a-courtin' and he did ride,
He had a nick-nack-nack by his side, A-hu, A-hu, A-hu

Froggy went a-courtin' and he did ride, A-hu
Froggy went a-courtin' and he did ride,
Froggy went a-courtin' and he did ride,
He had old Jerry by his side, A-hu, A-hu, Oh yeah

My favorite version is the uncle mouse in a Tom and Jerry cartoon.

http://www.storm.ca/~moparman/pol.shtml
.
Scroll down to the article exposing the TOTAL/Chretien, Chiraq/Iraq connections

.....Now for more intrigue: Francis says Total's biggest single shareholder is Montreal's Paul Desmarais, whose youngest son is married to Chretien's daughter. Desmarais Sr., is also a director of Total, along with other ranking members of France's establishment. It's hard to believe the Desmarais/Chretien families haven't discussed their investments in Total, and Total's investments in Saddam's Iraq.
All above board, of course.
Yet to suspicious minds, the plot thickens -- and gets scarier by the day.

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