Allegations over Japan account dogs France's Chirac

PARIS, May 25 (Reuters) French officials should look into allegations that former president Jacques Chirac holds millions of euros in a secret bank account in Japan, a former anti-corruption magistrate said today.

French media said this week that officials investigating an apparent dirty tricks scandal, the so-called Clearstream case, came across secret service documents showing Chirac held some 45 million euros 60.4 million dollar hidden in a Japanese account.

Chirac's aides have denied the existence of secret accounts.

But Eva Joly, an investigative magistrate who made a name for herself as a tough corruption fighter, said the allegations had to be looked into.

''It seems vital to me that an investigation takes place into these very persistent rumours,'' Joly told Internet news site www.Rue89.com. ''A democracy that is worth its name cannot live with this uncertainty.'' Chirac, who handed over to new-elected Nicolas Sarkozy last week, has a series of legal cases linked to his time as Paris mayor hanging over him when his presidential immunity ends on June 16.

Legal sources have said investigators want to talk to Chirac about fake city hall jobs and public contract scams used illicitly to fund his conservatives and other parties during an 18-year stint in charge of the French capital.

French media reported investigators found documents on the alleged back account at the Tokyo Sowa bank in the offices of a former top spy, retired General Philippe Rondot, as they were investigating the Clearstream case.

The still-unresolved Clearstream scandal nearly tore apart the government of former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who was accused of trying to smear Sarkozy, his political rival.

REUTERS JK BST2059