This week, several searches were carried out in several European sites of the French arms group Thales, which is suspected of corruption.
The French arms group Thales was raided this week in France, the Netherlands and Spain as part of investigations into suspected corruption linked to sales of military equipment abroad, notably in Brazil , AFP learned on Saturday from a judicial source.
Suspicions of corruption
Confirming BFMTVthis source specified that searches were carried out from Wednesday to Friday at the headquarters of different companies of the Thalès group in these three countries, as part of two preliminary investigations by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) for suspicion of agent corruption foreign public in particular. According to this source, these searches “intervene in the context of two preliminary investigations”.
“The first opened at the end of 2016, notably on charges of bribery of a foreign public official, private corruption, criminal association and money laundering of these offences, concerns the sale of submarines and the construction of a naval base in Brazil”the judicial source said.
“The second, opened in June 2023, notably on charges of corruption and influence peddling of foreign public officials, private corruption, criminal association, money laundering and concealment of these offences, concerns various operations for the sale of military and civilian equipment abroad”she added.
The operations “were carried out by 65 investigators from the OCLCIFF (Central Office for the Fight against Corruption and Financial and Fiscal Offences, Editor’s note), 12 magistrates from the PNF (National Financial Prosecutor’s Office), with the collaboration of the Dutch and Spanish judicial authorities, and the coordination of Eurojust“, the European judicial agency, according to this judicial source, according to which the “Investigations continue.”
