Nato has confirmed that its Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) in Luxembourg initiated an investigation that has led to the arrest of individuals accused of activities related to Nato contracts in a number of countries.
“Nato – including the NSPA – is working closely with law enforcement to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice,” spokesperson Allison Hart told Luxembourg Times on Wednesday evening. “The arrests are testament to the robust mechanisms that we have in place to detect, prevent, and take action against fraud and all forms of corruption or misconduct. We are actively strengthening our ability to mitigate risks and root out misconduct,” Hart continued.
The NSPA, which employs over 1,500 people and has its headquarters in Capellen, provides acquisition and support services for Nato and its 32 member countries. A spokesperson for the NSPA told the Luxembourg Times that general manager Stacy Cummings had informed staff directly of the investigation. “We’ll have a Townhall in the next couple of days,” the spokesperson added.
On Wednesday, the Luxembourg’s public prosecutor’s office said that the Grand Ducal Police, judicial police service, had carried out a number of searches in Luxembourg “as part of a crackdown on a case involving serving and retired officials of the Nato Support and Procurement Agency suspected of having used their positions to enrich themselves personally.”
Simultaneous operations, coordinated by Eurojust – the EU’s criminal justice agency – took place in Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and the US.
Contract irregularities and money laundering
The Belgian prosector’s office in a statement said that it had arrested two suspects on Monday in Bredene in west Flanders following an order from an investigating judge in the Bruges division. “One suspect was placed under arrest by the investigating judge and the other was released,” the statement read.
Asked by Luxembourg Times, the Belgian prosecutor said that only one of the two suspects “can be linked to the NSPA.”
The Belgian prosector revealed that the investigation concerns “possible irregularities” in the awarding of contracts to defence companies for the purchase of military equipment for Nato such as ammunition and drones.
More specifically, the statement said the investigation “concerns the possible transmission of confidential information” by NSPA employees to defence companies eligible for these contracts. “There are indications that the money obtained through these illegal practices was laundered, in part through the creation of consulting companies,” the Belgian prosector said.
Prosectors in the Netherlands have also announced arrests in connection with the investigation. A 58-year-old former civil servant of the Dutch Ministry of Defence, who was responsible for international purchase contracts according to the Dutch prosecutor, was arrested on Monday afternoon at Schiphol Airport on corruption charges.
The man, from Rotterdam, is “suspected of having taken bribes in 2023 regarding the awarding of purchase contracts, together with others partly outside the Netherlands.”
Dutch police later also made two further arrests as part of the investigation, though neither of these suspects was at any time a civil servant for the Netherlands government.
No arrests were made in Luxembourg, the public prosecutor said on Wednesday.