NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte says the organization’s procurement bureau is cooperating with constabulary investigating corruption and fraud allegations involving the acquisition of subject equipment
BRUSSELS -- NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Thursday that the organization’s procurement bureau is cooperating with constabulary investigating corruption and fraud allegations involving the acquisition of subject equipment.
The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) helps the 32 members of the world’s biggest information confederation and their partners to bargain defence instrumentality and different information systems and support. NATO arsenic an enactment does not ain immoderate weapons.
The European Union’s transgression justness agency, Eurojust, said Thursday that it had provided enactment for a cross-border probe into alleged corruption involving existent and erstwhile NSPA employees. The probe stretches to Spain and Luxembourg, wherever the NSPA is based.
Rutte said that the NATO bureau is “working precise intimately with each the applicable authorities, and evidently we volition proceed doing that. We privation to get to the basal of this.” He spoke successful Turkey wherever helium was chairing a gathering of NATO overseas ministers.
Belgian prosecutors said Wednesday that 2 suspects successful the occidental portion of Flanders had been taken successful for questioning implicit the allegations. One was arrested, the different released. No names oregon details astir them were provided.
They said that the probe is focusing connected imaginable “irregularities” successful the awarding of contracts to defence companies to bargain subject instrumentality similar ammunition and drones, which person go a decisive origin successful Russia’s warfare connected Ukraine.
The prosecutors fishy that bureau employees mightiness person fixed confidential accusation to the companies to assistance them triumph contracts, and that wealth whitethorn person been laundered done consultancy firms acceptable up for the purpose.
In a related case, Dutch prosecutors announced earlier this week that they had arrested a 58-year-old antheral from Rotterdam connected corruption charges. The prosecution work did not merchandise his sanction successful enactment with their privateness rules, but said helium was a erstwhile Dutch defence ministry civilian servant who “was liable for planetary acquisition contracts.”
In a statement, prosecutors said the antheral is “suspected of having taken bribes successful 2023 regarding the awarding of acquisition contracts, unneurotic with others partially extracurricular the Netherlands.” Two different suspects, who were not civilian servants, were besides arrested, the connection said. It did not supply further details.
The suspects were appearing Thursday earlier an investigative justice successful the Netherlands.
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Mike Corder contributed to this communicative from The Hague, Netherlands.
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