The American Trap

In 2014, France lost part of the control of its nuclear power plants to the United States. Frederic Pierucci, former senior executive of one of Alstom's subsidiaries, found himself at the heart of this state scandal. His story goes to the very heart of a $12 billion thriller that illustrates the secret economic war that the United States is waging in Europe. And after being silenced for a long time, he has decided, with the help of journalist Matthieu Aron, to reveal all.

In April 2013, Frederic was arrested in New York by the FBI and prosecuted for a bribery case, despite not being involved at all. The US authorities locked him up for more than two years - including fourteen months in a very high security prison. In doing so, they forced Alstom to pay the biggest penalty ever imposed by the United States. In the end, Alstom also gave up areas of control to General Electric, its biggest American competitor.

Frederic's story unpacks how the United States is diverting the law and morality and using corporate law as an economic weapon against its own allies. One after the other, some of the world's largest companies are being actively destabilised to the benefit of the US Treasury, in acts of sabotage that seem only to be the beginning of what's to come...

About the Authors

Former senior executive of Alstom in the Philippines, Frederic Pierucci's life was turned upside-down on April 4th, 2013 when he was arrested by the FBI under the Foreign Corruption Practice Act that allows the arrest of anyone, anywhere for suspicion of corruption.

Matthieu Aron is a journalist and former associate director of the Nouvel Observateur and former managing editor at France Inter. He has followed Frederic Pierucci's story since the beginning.