This new investigation was unveiled at the end of the afternoon by the British authority for the fight against financial crime, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), without further details other than that it is being carried out jointly with the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF ) In France. “We will jointly and rigorously explore all possible avenues as part of our investigation into these serious allegations,” commented SFO Director Nick Ephgrave.
According to a judicial source, the investigation was opened on the French side in July 2024 for “corruption of a foreign public official, influence peddling of a foreign public official, concealment and money laundering”. Entrusted to the Central Office for the Fight against Corruption and Financial and Tax Offenses (OCLCIFF), it targets “in particular an arms market concluded by the group” in Asia. The investigations are carried out “as part of a joint investigation team” with the SFO, under the coordination of Eurojust, according to the same source.
Contacted by AFP, the high-tech company specializing in defense, aerospace and cybersecurity, confirmed that the two authorities had “opened an investigation concerning four of its entities in France and the United Kingdom”. The group claims to comply with “all national and international regulations”. “As the investigation is ongoing, Thales will not make any further comment,” he added.
The CAC 40 giant, whose headquarters is based in Paris, is established in 68 countries around the world, where it employs 81,000 employees. According to the SFO more than 7,000 people work for it in the United Kingdom across 16 sites.
Held for a quarter by the State
These new suspicions of corruption are added to the list of investigations already opened against the French defense flagship. The group was raided at the end of June in France, the Netherlands and Spain as part of two investigations in 2016 and 2023, relating to the sale of military equipment abroad, in particular for corruption and influence peddling. foreign public official, according to a judicial source at the time.
The financial prosecutor's office also opened a preliminary investigation, revealed in May 2023, to verify whether the arms group used corruption, which it disputes, to obtain a contract to renovate Mirage-2000 fighter planes in India. . Another investigation, opened in December 2020, looks into the transfer of a former employee of the French multinational to a position at the United Nations (UN), one of Thales' clients.
A trial could finally be ordered, targeting this arms group in particular, for suspicion of corruption in the sale of submarines to Malaysia in 2002. Thales is a quarter owned by the French state and another quarter by the aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation, the remainder being divided into floating shareholdings.
