Paris, December 08, 2005 (Reuters)

France is set to open two corruption enquiries on Thursday into defence firm Thales, judicial sources said.

Thales, which confirmed it was aware of the probe, has denied any wrongdoing and pledged to cooperate.

The investigation into suspected corruption -- including misappropriation of company funds, favouritism and conspiring in and profiting from corrupt acts -- follows allegations by Michel Josserand, a former senior executive in the group.

He was detained in April as part of an investigation conducted by Nice prosecutors into corruption. He was released on bail in July.

The Paris-based investigation targets contracts won by Thales in Cambodia, Cameroon, Morocco, Egypt and Greece as well as Saint-Denis in the French-administered Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, and Tahiti.

A preliminary inquiry was launched last year by the public prosecutor's office. Police seized documents relating to suspect transactions, commissions paid and lists of dozens of contracts.

Thales has already denied the allegations by Josserand, who was head of the Thales Engineering and Consulting (THEC) subsidiary which filed a complaint against him.

"Thales notes the decision to open a judicial enquiry," spokesman Christophe Robin said on Thursday.

"Thales reiterates its formal denial of the deceitful allegations put forward by Michel Josserand," he said.

"Thales is cooperating and will cooperate fully and with total transparency with the investigators. The group has a policy of not commenting on ongoing litigation," he added.

Thales employs 60,000 people worldwide and posted turnover of 10.3 billion euros in 2004.

Source: http://za.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2005-12-08T165450Z_01_ALL860974_RTRIDST_0_OZABS-ARMS-THALES-20051208.XML&archived=False