REPERCUSSIONS OF THE PIASTER SCANDAL IN INDOCHINA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81-01036R000100050033-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 16, 2001
• Sequence Number: 33
• Publication Date: December 4, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

DEC 1951
Approved For Release 2001/08/02 : CIA-RDP81-01036R000100050033-0
U.S. Officials Only
SECURITY INFORMATION
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
COUNTRY France/Indochina
SUBJECT Repercussions of the Piaster
Scandal in Indochina
REPORT NO.
25X1A
THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFECTING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE
OF THE UNITED STATES. WITHIN THE MEANING OF TITLE 10. SECTIONS 79S
AND 794. OF THE U.S. CODE, AS AMENDED. ITS TRANSMISSION OR REVE?
LATION OF ITS CONTENTS TO OR RECEIPT BY AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON IS
P RT I P
AW. THE REPRODUCTION OF TH111111111 0141 111 TIED.
p
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
DATE DISTR. - C $3
NO. OF PAGES 2
NO. OF ENCLS.
SUPP. TO
REPORT NO.
25X1X
1. Official circles in Vietnam take a harsh view of the Parliamentary Commission
of inquiry on the piaster traffic. It is, to be sure, notorious that the public
officials of Vietnam made a very free use of transfer authorizations. This has
been particularly true of the former Premier, Tran Van Hu, and of Bao baits family.
It is especially hard to distinguish between state funds, transferred for..the use
of Vietnam diplomatic requirements, and personal funds, transferred for personal
speculative purposes.
2. Any attempt to go any deeper into the question means casting suspicion upon the
leaders and former leaders of Vietnam. It will also have the effect of provoking
new difficulties in the relations between Prance and the Bao Dai government.
3. It has been possible to detect a special grudge against M. Bollaert and his daughter,
on the part of certain members of the commission. This is less a matter of getting
after the farmer high commissioner than a chance for throwing mud at the Radical
Party, whose favorite son" he is.
4. The Bollaert affair" is familiar in official circles in Saigon, but it is very
hard to get the blunt truth told. For a good many years, the high commissionerts
office in Indochina, cooperating with the military Intelligence service, has been
trying to "water" Vietminh currency by Introducing a large number of counterfeit
notes in the rebellious zone. This counterfeit money circulates through Hong Kong.
The rather heavy expenses of this operation have been compensated for by importation
of dollars wbA h were not declared on their entry into Indochina. It was natural
for the high commissioner to use his personal airplane to cover these operations.
If his daughter carried exchange in her baggage, she did so with the full knowledge
of her father.
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Approved For Release 2001/08/02 : CIA-RDP81-0163,6ROQQ100050033-0
25X1A
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It is easy to see why M. Bollaert remains silent. He cannot very well explain,
to the city and the world., that the French administration in Indochina was
running a counterfeiterls shop. The.only thing is, that political passion is
blind, arid tie' Commission of Inquiry. remains deaf to 'reasons of state."
6. Most of the expenses of-the Commission of Inquiry came from the RPF. The former
Minister, Diethelm, to explain the forty millions transferred by his family through
the juggling of his brother-in-law, M. Bourgoin, Counselor of the Plan at Saigon,
found himself,.gompelle~. to reveal what the militant Gaullists had been doing.
William Baze', Counselor of the French Union, found himself mixed up in the affair.
This was a matter of the transfer in France of the cash secured through the sale of
propaganda stamps issued by the RPF in Indochina. The great error of M. Diethelm
is that he camouflaged the transfer operation, by handling it through his .own
account with a dubious motive. The high commissioner closed his eyes with the secret
and reserved idea of compromising the Gaullist movement. General de Gaulle was
furious at Diethelm's thoughtlessness In allowing this affair to go on.
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