November 30, 2022Airbus pays 15.9 mn euros to close French corruption probeA French judge on Wednesday allowed European aerospace firm Airbus to pay 15.9 million euros ($16.4 million) to avoid a corruption probe into aircraft deals in Libya and Kazakhstan between 2006 and 2011.Making the payment—the same amount paid to go-betweens during the suspect aircraft deals—allows Airbus to avoid acknowledging criminal activity, meaning it can continue to bid for public contracts.But the company said earlier this month that the Libya and Kazakhstan probe had not been covered by that agreement "because of procedural issues".Sarkozy, who has faced a string of legal inquiries since leaving office in 2012, has denied any illegal campaign financing from Libya.The deals included the purchase of two satellites from Airbus' former Astrium unit, where investigators discovered traces of an 8.8-million-euro payment to a Singapore account held by a Hong Kong-based offshore vehicle, Caspian Corp.Caspian is linked to a Tunisian middleman, Lyes Ben Chedli, who was charged in July 2021 along with a former Airbus executive, Olivier Brun."