Taiwan frigate scandal

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.[1] Eight people involved in the contract died in unusual and possibly suspicious circumstances.[2] 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 dumped in the ocean.[3]

In 2001, Swiss authorities froze accounts held by Andrew Wang, his wife, and his son Bruno Wang in connection to the Taiwan frigate scandal.[4]

Politician James Soong has been implicated in the Taiwan frigate scandal, in 2022 a relevant account was revealed as part of the Suisse secrets leaks.[5]

Six ROC naval officers were indicted on corruption charges relating to the affair.

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.[6] 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.[3]

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.[7] Andrew Wang died in the UK in 2015 and collection efforts continued against his family.[3] In 2017 Taiwan’s supreme court ordered the return of US$312.5 million in illegal proceeds held by the Wang family.[3]

In February 2021, the Federal Department of Justice and Police said that Switzerland will restitute nearly US$266 million to Taiwan.[8] 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.[3]

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.[9] The account is one of a number of things which have led to implications of his involvement in the Taiwan frigate scandal.[10]