New Delhi, October 04, 2005 (PTI)

A sacked executive of the French defence and aviation major, Thales, has alleged that the submarine manufacturer had a centralised slush fund to bribe and corrupt officials to win contracts in various countries.

Michel Josserand, former head of Thales Engineering, told a leading French daily Le Monde that Thales had organised a secret internal system to pay commissions to the extent of two per cent of the company’s annual sales last year.

The company had posted a sales of Euro 10.5 billion last year. The company has 50 per cent stake in Armaris, which manufactures French Scorpene submarines, six of which India has contracted to buy at a price of $3 billion.

Josserand named Africa, Korea, Greece and Italy as countries where paying bribes was “inevitable”. There was no mention of India in his remarks.

Strongly refuting charges of bribery, Thales in a statement said Josserand was sacked for his “involvement” in irregularities.

The company also denied allegations that it had paid millions of dollars in bribes and sold chemical weapons to the former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein.