Letter says secret war chest funds misused

PARIS, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- French officials investigating another matter found more than $34 million in a secret war fund is gone, some say possibly spent on "dancing girls."

Officials investigating a separate matter learned of the missing government funds from a note written by Gen. Philippe Rondot, a former intelligence chief, to Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, the Times of London reported Sunday. Alliot-Marie was questioned about the missing funds Friday.

The 2002 note said a "serious breakdown" had occurred in how secret funds were managed, the Times said. The money was part of a fund set up after the World War II and maintained during the cold war to finance a French state-in-exile should the Russia invade the country.

A few agents controlled the funds, the Times said. Reportedly, bank account information was passed by word of mouth and no written records were kept.

The money was supposed to be used for emergencies, Rondot said, "not to entertain the dancing girls of a few out-of-control contacts" of the French foreign intelligence service, newspaper reported.

Investigators seized Rondot's notes during their probe of payments purportedly made to French officials. Payment information later proved false.