PARIS, — A French-British investigation into alleged bribery at France-based defence giant Thales is examining a contract with Indonesia, an AFP investigation has showed.

In November last year, Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said it had launched a joint investigation with its French counterparts into “suspected bribery and corruption” at the multinational, which denies any wrongdoing.

A 41-year-old management controller, who worked at the company between August 2018 and June 2023, was the whistleblower who alerted the authorities and caused the probe to be opened, according to two sources following the case who requested not to be named because not allowed to speak to the press.

The former member of staff, who wishes to remain anonymous and who AFP reached through his lawyer, said he started asking colleagues questions after he noticed suspicious orders on the margins of big air defence deals with Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.

He said that in late 2018 he noticed a curious payment order for a service worth £400,000 (RM2.18 billion at today’s rate) on the sidelines of a deal between Thales UK and Indonesia.

He said he grew suspicious when someone asked him for a retroactive approval of the order with incoherent documents produced after it was made, and reported this to his superiors.

“The only thing I was told was to keep quiet,” he said.

He alleged that months later, he noticed another £100,000 transferred to Saudi Arabia, where a contract had also been signed.

He said he alerted colleagues in writing and orally, then via an internal complaint platform in 2022.

He believes this is why he was fired.