The United Kingdom's Serious Fraud Office is stepping up its anti-bribery efforts, continuing work on two cases involving alleged infractions of subsidiaries of U.K.-based companies which took place on foreign ground.

The SFO announced in a one-sentence press release on its Website this week that its director has opened an investigation into the Sweett Group related to the construction firm's activities in the United Arab Emirates “and elsewhere.”

The Sweett Group is a London-based surveying, construction, and project management company with offices in 18 countries. The Wall Street Journal first reported last year allegations that an executive of a Sweett subsidiary discussed a bribe to the United Arab Emirates president's foundation in exchange for a hospital design project the foundation was funding in Morocco. According to the article, the executive from subsidiary Cyril Sweett International met in 2010 in Abu Dhabi with an official from architectural firm HLW International, who agreed to pay a bribe to an official of the foundation. The Journal reported that HLW later backed out of the deal, ended its dealings with the foundation, and closed up shop in Abu Dhabi.

The Sweett Group issued a statement to investors this week on its website, informing them that the company notified the SFO last year following the WSJ's allegations about the former employee. The company said it started an independent investigation following the allegation, and has been keeping the SFO informed of the investigation's progress.

The company's statement said “evidence came to light that suggests that material instances of deception may have been perpetrated by a former employee or employees during the period 2009 - 2011. One of the former employees refused to answer questions asked of him by the independent investigators.”

The statement acknowledged SFO was now choosing to exercise its statutory powers under the Criminal Justice Act, and promised continued cooperation from the company.

A previous statement issued in April disclosed that the allegations also were being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice. That statement also revealed that the independent investigation on behalf of the company was being conducted by Mayer Brown.

More progress was made by the SFO last week in a case with similar circumstances, as media outlets reported the anti-fraud office arrested four Airbus Group employees in connection with its investigation into bribes paid in Saudi Arabia by a company subsidiary.

An Airbus spokesman told Bloomberg via email that four former and current employees were interviewed along with U.K. Ministry of Defence officials “as part of a wide ranging SFO investigation into subsidiary GPT.” Bloomberg said the SFO said search warrants were executed and arrests made, but did not identify Airbus by name.

The Telegraph reported that a total of seven people were questioned by the SFO, and all have been released on bail.

The SFO announced two years ago the launch of a criminal investigation into GPT Special Project Management Ltd. for allegations of misconduct in Saudi Arabia. The allegations relate to the award of a £2 billion contract for high level intranet and communications work for the Saudi National Guard, Bloomberg said. Airbus was previously known as European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co. (EADS). When the investigation was launched in 2012, Airbus hired PricewaterhouseCoopers to conduct an independent investigation of the bribery allegations, which turned up no evidence of bribes, Airbus reportedly told Bloomberg.

A whistleblower first brought the allegations to light in 2010. GPT executive Ian Foxley told authorities that a £1.96 billion intranet contract with the Saudi National Guard involved payments, cars, and other gifts to local officials, the Telegraph reported. Foxley told the newspaper that he was threatened with arrest after refusing to sign off on payments, allegedly routed to Saudi military officials through offshore bank accounts, and fled the country. A retired British Army officer, Foxley claimed he was subsequently let go by the company and filed a claim for unfair dismissal.

Foxley, who later became chairman of Whistleblowers UK, provided written testimony to the U.K.'s Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards in 2012, advocating for better protections for whistleblowers. Foxley wrote that the United States was “far more advanced” in the U.K. in its treatment of whistleblowers, with established channels through the Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice, and with its fund to compensate whistleblowers.

“Whistleblowers are NOT supported in this country,” Foxley wrote. “There is muted applause for the integrity and honesty of a brave man or woman but, in reality, corporate business reverts to snide sniggering at the naïve foolishness of those who do not understand ‘hard-nosed commercialism.'”

The Telegraph reported that the weekend arrests could indicate the long-running probe is nearing its final stages before being turned over to prosecutors.

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