Paris: French defence company Thales SA is suspected of corruption and favouritism involving several public contracts and is under investigation, court officials have disclosed.

France's financial crimes unit is investigating whether the company was guilty of irregularities in contracts it won for projects in the city of Tours and the islands of Tahiti and Reunion.

Thales spokesmen were not available for comment.

In April, the company said it had fired two managers and launched a criminal probe into alleged corruption involving a contract it won in 2002 for a tramway system in Nice, southern France.

French officials are investigating a similar contract in the city of Bordeaux.

The southern African arm of the company, then known as Thomson-CSF, was a member of the consortium that won a contract under South Africa's multi-billion-rand arms deal. It is alleged to have agreed to pay R500 000 a year to then-deputy president Jacob Zuma in return for protection during investigations into the arms deal.

With acknowledgements to Sapa and the Cape Times.