Thales Faces French Corruption Probe Over India Mirage Contract
- Preliminary probe concerns allegation in lawsuit over contract
- Thales and Dassault Aviation won $2.5 billion contract in 2011
Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg
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Defense company Thales SA faces a bribery probe by French prosecutors into a $2.5 billion contract it won to modernize the Indian Air Force’s fleet of Dassault Mirage 2000 planes.
A preliminary investigation has been opened into allegations by Sanjay Bhandari, who said in a court case that he served as a middleman to help Thales win the contract, according to a person familiar with the probe. The case focuses on whether payments to Bhandari were hidden bribes, the person said, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential matters.