PARIS (Reuters) – Searches took place between Wednesday and Friday at the headquarters of various Thales group companies in France, the Netherlands and Spain, as part of two preliminary investigations into alleged corruption and influence peddling by foreign public officials, a judicial source said on Saturday.
Thales confirmed that searches had taken place, without further details. The French aerospace, defense and security equipment manufacturer added that it was cooperating with the authorities.
According to the judicial source, who confirmed information from BFMTV, the first investigation opened at the end of 2016 concerns the sale of submarines and the construction of a naval base in Brazil, while the second opened in June 2023 concerns various operations of sale of military and civil equipment abroad.
The investigations also concern alleged acts of private corruption, criminal conspiracy and money laundering of these offenses, added this source.
“Thales reiterates that it strictly complies with national and international regulations. The company has developed and implemented a global compliance program with which it complies and which meets the highest industry standards,” a company spokesperson said.
(Reporting Benjamin Mallet and Juliette Jabkhiro)
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