Spanish minister facing Elf claims

Pique, far left, meeting U.S. President George W. Bush last week

MADRID, Spain -- Spanish Supreme Court prosecutors voted on Wednesday to have Foreign Minister Josep Pique face allegations in a high-level fraud case with French oil magnate Elf, Reuters has reported.

Pique, accused of funds embezzlement and tax evasion, declared his innocence. He was a board member of the Spanish firm Ercros when it sold its Ertoil division to France's state-owned Elf for more than 40 billion pesetas ($206 million).

Allegedly, 18 billion pesetas are unaccounted for from the sale, and investigators say that more than nine billion pesetas were possibly paid to third parties as commission.

Pique will appear before the court if Attorney General Jesus Cardenal finalises the prosecutors' vote, which could take a few days, court sources say. If so, parliament will then have to eliminate Pique's immunity rights as a member of parliament so he can formally be called to court.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar said he awaits to see if Pique is formally charged with criminal action and if those charges are ''well-founded.''

Former French foreign minister Roland Dumas was found guilty of receiving illegal funds from the state-owned the Elf oil company while he was in office from 1989-1992. Dumas was given a six months' jail sentence in May.