The scandal that keeps on flying

[CHIMO]

Harvey Cashore, as a young investigative journalist with CBC's the fifth estate, received a tip in 1994 that a European consortium, Airbus Industrie, had paid bribes in 1988 to win a $1.8-billion order from Air Canada for 34 passenger jets. He would spend the next 15 years sleuthing after the story.

Rumours had circulated. The break came after two partners fell out over money. Karlheinz Schreiber was business agent for Franz Josef Strauss, chairman of Airbus Industrie. Giorgio Pelossi was Schreiber's Swiss accountant.

Schrieber charged Pelossi with pilfering his secret Swiss account. Pelossi retaliated by leaking to Der Spiegel explosive documents revealing a scheme to bribe businesses and politicians in Germany and Canada. The documents led to officials being jailed in Germany. In Canada, no one would be held to account. A number of lawsuits erupted. Brian Mulroney won a $2.1-million settlement and an apology from Ottawa. Schreiber launched a $35-million libel suit against CBC and Cashore. Frank Moores sued for $15-million.

Cashore explores the labyrinth of lies, denials, deceptions, coded names, Swiss accounts and concealed actors. His book, a personal account of his long quest, reads like a whodunit.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/review-the-truth-shows-up-airbus-scandal-by-harvey-cashore/article1551254/


Brian Mulroney, Elmer Mackay (centre) and Karlheinz Schreiber in a signed photo taken while Mulroney was prime minister. Mulroney claimed he rarely met Schreiber, but his appointments secretary says they met as many as seven times a year while Mulroney was in office.

[daleo]

1. That's definitely on my reading list

With the benefit of time, I think this book will be more understandable than the Airbus part of "On the Take" was.