Britain’s Serious Fraud Office is launching an investigation into French defense giant Thales

London:

Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said on Thursday it had launched a joint investigation with its French counterparts into “suspected bribery and corruption” at French multinational defense giant Thales.

“Investigators from the OFS and the French authority Parquet National Financier (PNF) have informed the company of the investigation,” it said, noting that the two agencies are investigating “in their respective jurisdictions.”

Thales is headquartered in Paris. Thales UK is a subsidiary and one of the UK Government’s main defense contractors, employing over 7,000 people at 16 sites across the country.

It built hundreds of light missiles that Britain sent to Ukraine in September.

A spokesman for Thales confirmed that the SFO and PNF “have commenced an investigation in relation to four of its entities in France and the UK”.

“Thales cooperates with PNF in France and SFO in Great Britain. The group complies with all national and international regulations.

“As the investigation is ongoing, Thales will not comment further.”

The OFS announcement follows police in France, the Netherlands and Spain raiding the multinational’s offices in June over suspected corruption related to arms sales, according to reports.

SFO director Nick Ephgrave said he hoped the joint survey would strengthen the “long-standing relationship” between the OFS and PNF, built on mutual cooperation and shared success.

“We will vigorously pursue all avenues together in our investigation into these serious allegations,” he added in a statement, which gave no further details about the allegations.

The SFO is a specialist prosecution authority in tackling serious or complex fraud, bribery and corruption at the highest level in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Thales specializes in defense electronics and built the 650 so-called light multi-role missiles (LMMs) that Britain announced it would supply to Ukraine in September, costing 162 million pounds ($204 million).

The firm also won a £1.8bn defense contract from the UK in February, which will see it maintain the Royal Navy’s fleet of ships and submarines for the next 15 years.

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