Issuations against NATO employees for corruption

Criminal prosecutors from several countries investigate the possible corruption in the allocation of armor orders via NATO. As the Belgian public prosecutor announced, it is about suspicion that employees of the NATO procurement agency NSPA in Luxembourg have passed on confidential information to armaments companies.

There is also indications that money from these illegal practices were washed, among other things, by founding consulting companies. Examples of those affected were cited for drones and ammunition.

In the course of the investigation, two suspects were arrested on Monday, according to the Belgian public prosecutor’s office and searches in the municipality of Bredene in West Flanders were carried out. An arrest warrant was issued against one of the suspects, it said.

According to NATO, there were further arrests in other countries. At the request of the German Press Agency, a spokeswoman for the defense alliance announced that NATO is working closely with the law enforcement authorities to ensure that those responsible were held accountable. According to your information, the arrests decrease to an investigation initiated by the NSPA.

At first there was no information about the possible damage and the amount of possible bribery payments. It also remained unclear which armor companies could have benefited from the information.

According to the information from the Belgian authorities, the allegations are also determined in Luxembourg, Spain and the Netherlands. The agency of the European Union for Justice Cooperation in Criminal Matters (Euro Just) is also coordinating. Membership in a criminal association, active and passive corruption as well as money laundering are mentioned as possible crimes.

The NATO procurement agency NSPA is regularly bought in weapon systems and ammunition in the billion value. Most recently, she announced the conclusion of framework contracts for the delivery of artillery ammunition worth around 1.1 billion euros. Germany also wants to benefit from this business. Before that, a contract for the purchase of up to 1,000 Patriot Aircraft missiles was announced for $ 5.5 billion (EUR 4.9 billion).