Mega defense corp Thales faces Anglo-French bribery and corruption probe

An investigation into aerospace and defense giant Thales is now underway over suspicions of palm-greasing and fraud. The UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) confirmed on Thursday evening that the investigation had begun, but didn't offer any further details about the suspicions beyond the mention of "bribery and corruption." …

[goodjudge]

Bribery and corruption in the weapons industry?

Insert Claude Rains "shocked" quote from Casablanca here.

[Kobus Botes]

Asia? Methinks it might be Africa

Hopefully it is the case against Thale, Zuma (Ex South African president, though he and his followers still insist that it is President - no ex) and others, that relates to a 1999 contract that Zuma (Ex president) bitterly decries as a travesty and cannot wait to have his day in court to have his innocence proven. Except that he has, since day one, used every legal and questionable tactic to derail the case, as he most certainly does not want to have his day in court.

See here for some details - other examples abound: https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/zuma-thales-corruption-case-back-in-court/

Icon for what should happen to all those involved in the case.

[O'Reg Inalsin]

Re: Asia? Methinks it might be Africa

Well, if it is a continent beginning with A then that narrow's down the suspects quite a bit: Africa, Asia, Australia, Antarctica, and the Americas (North and South).

[rgjnk]

Is this the same investigation that kicked off last year or a new one? Can make a couple of guesses on the country based on historical stories.

In totally unrelated news, there seems to have been some fun with Elbit & a major UK project resulting in them having to leave it, but that seems to have attracted almost no attention anywhere let alone the detail. Seems to have been such a high level problem that it was easier for both sides to put it in the memory hole and just leave it at a quiet removal.

[Guy de Loimbard]

Cost of commerce in different regions

Having worked in the Middle East for a length of time, some of these payments were seen as the cost of doing business in the region.

I appreciate its hardly the way to do business in an open and transparent way, but has anyone seen the lobbying of politicians recently?

It will be interesting to see what the outcome is of both the SFO and the PNF is.

[Steve Davies 3]

Re: Cost of commerce in different regions

OR (as I discovered in the 1990's)

Having worked in the former USSR for a length of time...

It happens all the time and in all the countries. Move along there, nothing to see....

[Pascal Monett]

So, Thales is being investigated

Isn't that an again ?

What happened to the last investigation ?

I'm sure the same thing will happen to this one. With a company like that, there are too many people in important positions that prefer not to get their feathers ruffled.

[Rich 2]

Sounds just like…

…the case some years ago when BAe were accused of bribing the Saudis. It was all true of course - it was an open secret to those working there; bribes were factored into project budgets - but the UK gov shut down the case (rather brazenly if I remember) because it wasn’t in the “national interest”. The BAe board probably got knighthoods out of it too.

I strongly suspect exactly the same thing will happen in this case.

[CowHorseFrog]

Re: Sounds just like…

Nobody should be allowed to export arms to dictators especially people like the Saudis. When the oil runs out, Saudi will become a shithole, and those weapons will find their way to the next generations of fanatics.

[Brave Coward]

SFO

Not knowing much of the arcane world of Brit administration, does 'Serious Fraud Office' imply that there would be a 'Fancy Fraud Office' or even 'Funny Fraud Office'?

Always eager to learn!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: SFO

Also, and since the UK quite famously has a Minister of Silly Walks, does it also have a Minister of Serious Walks?

[Fruit and Nutcase]

Re: SFO

Or, as the Satirical magazine "Private Eye", The "Serious Farce Office"

No doubt, they'll be watching this with interest.

They've seen it all before

[Pete 2]

As with tipping: know who and how much

> "bribery and corruption."

If they (or every other company) are being investigated for bribery, it sounds very much like they forgot to bribe the right people.

[Anonymous Coward]

What is “areospace”?

Is it French?

[CowHorseFrog]

Western manuf such as Thales or any other tech should not be allowed to sell anything to the same countries where they found it necessary to donate money to locals.

This will prevent problems like Iran using western tech against the west sometime in the future, and would have prevented China from becoming a world power, and would also have prevent Vlad significantly.