Thread by @OCCRP

NEW: A prominent Taiwanese politician had a Credit Suisse account that could provide critical information on a corrupt $2.5b deal for naval ships.

A #SuisseSecrets story from OCCRP and @lemondefr [Thread]👇
occrp.org/en/suisse-secr…

Background on the Corruption Case: The “Lafayette” scandal started when Taiwan bought six navy frigates from a French state-backed defense firm three decades ago for $2.5b.

Some $520m in kickbacks are believed to have been paid out to officials in Taiwan, France, and China. 2/

Last year, Switzerland agreed to return $266m in “illegal commissions” on the deal that were stashed in Swiss bank accounts.

But authorities say they were unaware of a Swiss account exposed in today’s investigation. 3/

James Soong Chu-yu was a leading figure in Taiwan’s ruling party when the naval contract was signed. He was also accused of taking kickbacks from the deal.

Leaked data shows that Soong had a Credit Suisse account that held as much as 13m Swiss francs. 4/ cdn.occrp.org/projects/suiss…

We also found Credit Suisse accounts belonging to relatives of a key middleman in the corrupt deal, Wang Chuan-pu, also known as Andrew Wang.

The accounts were opened btw. 1997 and 2001, when his role in the deal was public knowledge. 5/

Judicial officials and police in France, Taiwan, and Switzerland said they were unaware of Soong’s Credit Suisse account.

"It could have shed important light on what was really behind this case," said a former judge who led the French probe into the Lafayette scandal. 6/

This is our latest Suisse Secrets investigation.

Find more of our stories here: occrp.org/en/suisse-secr…