SERGE DASSAULT, president of Dassault Industries, has been directly implicated in the widening scandal over arms sales to Belgium.
Money found in a Swiss bank account, held by the former secretary of Belgium's Socialist party, Luc Wallyn, was allegedly sent personally by Serge Dassault in 1989, as a commission for the BFr7.5 billion ($24 million) Carapace contract with Dassault Electronique, to supply electronic-countermeasures system for Belgian Lockheed F-16s, through its Belgian subsidiary SABCA (Flight International, 15-21 March).
The scandal began with an investigation into the supply of Italian Agusta A.109 helicopters for the Belgian air force. This has already resulted in the apparent suicide of a former air force chief, the murder of a former socialist minister and the arrests of public figures.
The Dassault connection was established when former Socialist party treasurer Etienne Mange, already implicated in the affair, claimed that Serge Dassault had given BFr 60 million to the Belgian Flemish Socialist party in 1989. He alleges that the money found its way to Socialist lawyer Alfons Puelinckx, who received the cash through Wallyn's Swiss bank account. Wallyn was arrested on 17 February in connection with the Agusta deal.
Dassault is "stupefied" by the allegations, which it adds are "totally without foundation".
Source: Flight International