In 1988, the choice post of CEO of French oil giant comes up for grabs. The new bosses find themselves at the helm of a company that operates through a series of discreet slush funds, used to grease the palms of African heads of state in exchange for oil drilling rights. With the tacit complicity of the French presidency, the new team takes control of the purse strings. After just a few months, the top brass is richer than they could have imagined and this continues until 1993, when a new CEO is appointed, who decides to put an end to his predecessors shading dealings. Fraud investigators are called in to examine the company in a long and drawn out case full of threats and pressure from the very highest levels. It takes ten years for the truth about this huge financial scandal to finally come to light.