PARIS, March 17 (Xinhua) -- The European aerospace giant Airbus group announced Thursday that the French authorities had opened a preliminary investigation into allegations of fraudulent practices concerning selling planes and arranging aircraft financing in Britain.
Airbus said in a press release the Parquet National Financier (PNF) joined the investigation into the same subject that Britain had conducted before.
On Aug. 7, 2016, Airbus announced that Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) had launched a probe into allegations of fraud, bribery and corruption in the civil aviation business of the group concerning third party consultants.
Airbus said it would cooperate fully with both authorities, which will act in coordination.
On Feb. 16, Austria filed a lawsuit against Airbus over a 2-billion-euro (2.15-billion U.S. dollars) 2003 order for Eurofighters, citing it had been a victim of "fraudulent deception." It is claiming 1.1 billion euros in damages.
In 2012, Austrian and German authorities launched a probe into Airbus, previously called EADS, to investigate whether officials had been paid millions of euros through advisory firms to secure the contract.
Airbus is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services. In 2016, it generated revenues of 67 billion euros and employed a workforce of around 134,000.
