German prosecutors have accused the Scorpions of failing to co-operate with their investigation into German businessman Michael Woerfel, who allegedly provided discounted vehicles to South African officials in a bid to influence the arms deal selection process.

This comes hot on the heels of allegations by prosecutions chief Bulelani Ngcuka at the weekend that the French government was withholding assistance in the Scorpions' probe into Deputy President Jacob Zuma, a claim denied by the French.

Transparency SA, the local of chapter of anti-corruption network Transparency International, said yesterday the Munich prosecutor assigned to investigate Woerfel had approached their German chapter for assistance after failing to enlist the help of the Scorpions.

Transparency SA chairman Darryl Balia said "We are aware from our colleagues in Germany that they have not received the kind of co-operation they wanted. They said they had requested information, which they had not received, and this forced their investigation to a standstill."

Under German law, the bribery of a foreign public official carries a prison sentence of up to five years.

The prosecuting authorities in Germany want to know how many public officials in SA received discounts on their Mercedes-Benz vehicles, whether they recorded the benefit and what the arms maker demanded in return.

Efforts to get a comment from the Scorpions on the German allegations were unsuccessful yesterday.

Charges of fraud and corruption were dropped against Woerfel, the former MD of German-owned European Aeronautic Defence & Space Company (EADS), earlier this year after former African National Congress chief whip Tony Yengeni accepted a plea bargain deal in return for a lesser sentence. DaimlerChrysler Aerospace, which was incorporated into EADS in July 2001, is alleged to have made numerous overtures to parliamentary officials and senior members of the South African National Defence Force. Although it never got the deal *, firms linked to it received contracts worth more than R400m.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the French Embassy in Pretoria, Jean Marie Lebon, said the French government was puzzled by Ngcuka's allegations.

"We supported SA when they raided the offices and homes of those involved with the Thomson group, and we assisted them when they came to France."

Lebon said investigations by French authorities had failed to find sufficient evidence for a conviction.

He said the French would be willing to investigate further if the trial of Schabir Shaik revealed that money was in fact paid to Zuma.

 [* Of course one of the deals it got was for R220 million (1998 Rands) for the RTS 6400 Optronics Radar Tracker for the corvettes through EADS's 35% share in Reutech Radar Systems. The original asking price for these radars was close to R400 million (1998 Rands).

What EADS did not get and what they really wanted was their first customer for their new and yet unflown AT2000 fighter trainer / light ground attack aircraft, a contract worth somewhere between R5 billion and R15 billion, depending on how many the gullible customer took.

What EADS also never got was the contract for the TRS-3D surveillance radars for the corvettes, where they were originally the Navy's (and Reutech's) first choice, but got pipped at the post by Thomson-CSF and ADS with their MRR (an older much less sophisticated radar).

But someone else needed to make good their R37 000 a month expense shortfall (three wives, three households, two ex-wives and a whole bunch of kids ) is surely hell for the budget - even on a DP's salary) more than Tony needed another 4x4 and the French were more generous (they paid hard cash) than the Germans (they paid "second-hand" Mercs) so......................

Whatta boy!. ]

With acknowledgements to Business Day.