Word: elfe
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...Along with his ex-lover Christine Deviers-Joncour and five other defendants, Dumas, 78, stands accused of ?abusing? company funds. The prosecution claims that in 1989 Dumas used his influence as Foreign Minister to win a sinecure position at Elf Aquitaine for his svelte brunette lady-friend. Deviers-Joncour, whose only duties consisted of ?lobbying? her lover??body and soul,? as the presiding judge quipped?is accused of raking in a total of $9.15 million in salary, commissions, rent and the apparently unlimited use of a company credit card during her four years with the then state-owned firm...
...Among other things, Elf?s largesse allowed her to acquire a $2.4 million apartment, a $43,000 17th century tapestry and a $31,000 grand piano. Dumas apparently enjoyed the free use of the apartment?along with gourmet restaurant meals, $46,000 worth of art and a $1,500 pair of custom-made boots, all purchased for him with Christine?s corporate credit card...
...trembling voice, occasionally breaking into tears, Deviers-Joncour insisted that she had handled ?important matters? for Elf and that her sumptuous income was well earned. ?It was good for Elf, good for France, good for everyone,? she declared. But three former Elf officials on trial with Deviers-Joncour told another story. Ex-ceo Lo?k Le Floch-Prigent told the court he never even knew of her existence and ?cannot explain why she was put on the payroll.? Andre Tarallo, former Elf director general, testified that ?at no moment was I aware of any work done by Madame Deviers-Joncour.? Tarallo...
...Dumas? troubles began in 1997, when magistrates investigating a welter of Elf- related scandals stumbled upon the mysterious figure of Deviers-Joncour. Tipped off to her exorbitant lifestyle by an anonymous letter, investigators soon discovered her links to Dumas. The former model was put under formal investigation in November 1997, serving five months of preventive detention. She initially attempted to protect her ex-lover but finally, feeling spurned and isolated, told investigators that Dumas had secured her Elf job and that her main assignment was to try to make him reverse his veto on the sale of six frigates...
...loosely knit that an FBI agent says finding members is "like trying to grab Jell-O." Lance Robertson, a veteran environment reporter for the Eugene (Ore.) Register-Guard newspaper, says he has never been able to track down anyone he knew to be a member. Even a self-proclaimed ELF spokesman in Portland says he merely passes on anonymous messages...