[1] For thirty years, Tarallo managed Elf's interests in Africa, surrounding himself with a team of fellow Corsicans in the higher echelons of the organisation.
In 1989 CEO Loïk Le Floch-Prigent, himself later indicted during the Elf fraud investigation, attempted to remove Tarallo from his position by forcing him to retire, but was largely unsuccessful.
Tarallo remained with the titles of Chairman of Elf-Congo, Elf-Gabon and Elf Trading, a financial subsidiary in Geneva.
[1] During his time at the head of Elf's African operations, he obtained the nicknames "Mister Africa" and "Corsican Uncle".
[3][4] Prosecution found that Tarallo maintained several bank accounts with names such as Tomato, Salad, Langouste, Colette (the name of his wife), or Centuri in tax havens around the world, including Panama, Switzerland and Liechtenstein and accused him of stealing at least 50 million dollars.