Total chief back at work as Iran probe continues

By Marie Maitre and Thierry Leveque

PARIS (Reuters) - The chief executive of French oil giant Total returned to work on Friday after being questioned about alleged illegal payments to Iran, six months after being named in a separate kickbacks probe on Iraq.

The twin investigations facing the head of France's largest company, Christophe de Margerie, weeks after he was appointed, dominated the country's media and knocked its election campaign off front pages despite Total's efforts to play down the storm.

"He is back in the office. It is business as usual," a Total spokesman said. The company has denied any wrongdoing.

As de Margerie settled back into his 44th-floor office, the legal challenge facing the world's fourth largest oil company began seeping toward key personalities in Iran, where Total signed a gas deal in 1997.

The Paris prosecutor's office said that as a condition of his release on Thursday after 36 hours of questioning, de Margerie was not allowed to contact former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani or his son Mehdi.

"I don't know about this case. I am not in Iran and I cannot comment on that," Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani told Reuters in Tehran by telephone.

De Margerie was also barred from meeting various other unnamed intermediaries in the award of a contract to develop Iran's offshore South Pars gasfield, one of the world's largest.

Such judicial orders do not directly implicate individuals but are usually imposed to prevent current or potential suspects in a probe from exchanging information.

Total shares rose 1.7 percent to 51.89 euros, lifted by higher oil prices and largely indifferent to the Middle East corruption investigations.

Analysts say de Margerie's predecessor Thierry Desmarest, now non-executive chairman, could easily return to his old job if the legal quagmire deepens or de Margerie is charged.

"This is neutral in terms of the impact this development can have on the stock, unless more serious things happen. For now I am really not worried," said fund manager Jacques-Antoine Bretteil at International Capital Gestion.

FORMAL INVESTIGATION

De Margerie was placed under formal investigation in the Iran case late on Thursday on suspicion of "corruption of foreign officials" and "misuse of company assets".

This means he is treated as a suspect, but magistrates may eventually decide the case should not go to trial.

De Margerie remains under limited judicial supervision, obliging him to be ready to answer more questions, but Total said nothing prevented him from doing his job normally.