French Judge To Probe Rafale Jet Sale To India

The 7.8-billion-euro ($9.3-billion) deal for 36 planes between the government and French aircraft manufacturer Dassault has long been mired in corruption allegations.

A French judge has been tasked with investigating a controversial 2016 multi-billion-dollar sale of Rafale fighter jets to India on "corruption" suspicions, the national financial prosecutors' office (PNF) said Friday. The 7.8-billion-euro ($9.3-billion) deal for 36 planes between the government and French aircraft manufacturer Dassault has long been mired in corruption allegations. The PNF had intially refused to investigate the sale, prompting French investigative website Mediapart to accuse it and the French Anti-corruption Agency of "burying" suspicions surrounding the September 2016 deal. In April, Mediapart claimed "millions of euros of hidden commissions" were given to a go-between who helped Dassault conclude the sale, of which "some... could have been given as bribes" to Indian officials.