(Bloomberg) -- Thales SA, the French aerospace and defense supplier, is under investigation by UK and French prosecutors for suspected bribery and corruption.
The Serious Fraud Office said it opened an investigation alongside France’s Parquet National Financier, according to a statement on Thursday. Thales is a major supplier to militaries around the world, selling products ranging from sensors to missile and communication systems.
French financial prosecutors opened their investigation in July, according to an official at the country’s justice ministry. The case is looking into suspected bribery of a foreign public official and influence peddling concerning a weapons contract in Asia, the official said.
“We will together rigorously pursue every avenue in our investigation into these serious allegations,” Nick Ephgrave, the director of the Serious Fraud Office said.
Thales is listed in Paris, with more than a quarter of its shares held directly by the French government, and employs more than 81,000 people in 68 countries, according to its website and public filings.
Some of Thales’s offices were raided in June as part of a law enforcement investigation. The company has a large presence in the UK, in part due to its acquisition of Racal Electronics Plc in 2000, employing over 7,000 people.
“Thales is cooperating with the PNF in France and the SFO in the UK,” a spokesperson said. “The group complies with all national and international regulations.”
The SFO didn’t provide any specifics about the investigation.
The case is the sixth to be publicly announced since Ephgrave, a former police chief and the first non-lawyer to lead the agency, took over the SFO in September last year.
--With assistance from Tara Patel.
(Updates with PNF official in the third paragraph)
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