Eight-year Elf kickback probe ends

Ex-Elf president Le Floch-Prigent: Investigated 35 times during the inquiry

PARIS, France -- An eight-year probe into an alleged multi-million dollar kickback scheme at the former French state-owned oil giant Elf Aquitaine has ended.

More than 40 people, including former Interior Minister Charles Pasqua who is running in this spring's presidential race, were named in the final report released on Monday.

Those identified in the report now have 20 days to respond to the allegations that they were involved in one of France's biggest ever corruption scandals.

Pasqua is under suspicion for allegedly using Elf company planes for personal use.

The Elf scandal has already claimed the scalp of former foreign minister Roland Dumas, who was convicted of corruption last year and sentenced to six months in prison in a separate Elf investigation.

All 43 named by investigative judges Eva Joly and Renaud Van Ruymbeke have 20 days to respond to allegations linking them to the attempts to buy influence.

The recommendations go to the Paris prosecutor's office for review after any challenges are filed. A final decision on whether anyone will face trial is made by the judges.

Former Elf executive Sirven, waits to hear if he faces trial

During a four-year period ending in 1993, as much as $400 million was looted from the company for personal and political gain, the judges concluded.

The allegations have ramifications in several European countries, including France, Germany and Spain, and into Africa, where Elf draws its oil.

One aspect of the investigation revolved around the 1992 purchase of the crumbling Leuna refinery in the former East Germany.

The project was a high-profile plank of then-Chancellor Helmut Kohl's efforts to offset the collapse of former Communist East Germany's outdated industry after reunification in 1990.

Kohl's Christian Democrat party was under suspicion in France and in Germany for allegedly accepting bribes in connection with Elf's purchase of Leuna.

But Kohl has denied the allegations, and in December, German federal prosecutors said they found no evidence that German politicians had been bribed in the Leuna deal.

French investigators also found no evidence of a Kohl link to the scandal.

Those named had already been placed under formal investigation, one step short of being charged.

They include a number of former Elf executives -- the most high profile of which is Alfred Sirven, the former second-in-command at Elf, who is widely considered to be a key figure in the scandal.

The company's former head, Loik Le Floch-Prigent -- who has been placed under investigation a record 35 times in the tangled Elf affair -- and former executive Andre Tarallo, are alsoanmed in teh report.

Elf Aquitaine was taken over in 1999 by oil giant TotalFina.