Arrests in Norway Reveal Fraud and Bribery for NATO Ship Supply Contracts
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A wide-sweeping probe reaching from Norway to Germany and Romania has revealed a scheme of fraud and bribery for contracts to supply NATO ships. The first arrests were made on Wednesday in Bergen, Norway, with officials saying the scheme ran for at least four years and that they estimate the total losses are more than €1 million (US$1.12 million).
The investigation began in April 2025 and was coordinated by Eurojust, the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, along with anti-corruption and prosecutor’s offices in Norway, Germany, Romania, and the United Kingdom. Eurojust reports the cross-border investigation is into alleged fraudulent invoices submitted to the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA). The agency handles logistical support for military equipment and services, including the husbandry services that provide shore-based support to NATO warships.
The Norwegian authority Økokrim said it believes the scheme ran for several years, between 2021 and 2025. It included over-invoicing NSPA for services provided to NATO ships in Norwegian ports, including Bergen.
The fraud allegations Eurojust reports include bribery of foreign officials done by a suspected company through an intermediary, in return for favored support with their contractual dealings with NSPA.
The cooperating agencies staged simultaneous raids in Norway, Germany, and Romania on Wednesday, searching homes and businesses. Økokrim reported that five individuals were taken into custody in the Bergen area. They have been charged with aggravated fraud against NSPA, or aiding and abetting such fraud.
“Defence sector budgets are increasing worldwide, which entails an increased risk of economic crime,” said Marianne Bender, Senior Public Prosecutor at Økokrim. “It will take time to investigate this case as the charges cover several years and involve a very large number of ship calls.”
The officials said the searches in Germany and Romania involved several companies linked to the same serious fraud. NSPA also noted that the investigation had already led to earlier law enforcement actions in 2024 and 2025, without providing details.
NSPA said it had established a first-of-its-kind investigative capability in 2023, and since then has strengthened and matured this function into an Office of Investigations equipped to detect and combat fraud and corruption, designed to better safeguard the integrity of NATO-related procurement processes.
The officials said that this case demonstrates how NSPA’s identification of wrongdoings, combined with swift collaboration with national law enforcement, delivers tangible outcomes, including suspensions, debarments and arrests.
“While it is disheartening to unearth evidence of corrupt practices, these law enforcement actions reflect an investigations system that produces results and upholds the integrity of the agency’s procurement processes,” said NSPA.
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The case harkens back to the well-known “Fat Leonard” scandal in the United States, in which a Malaysian defense contractor, Leonard Glenn Francis (aka "Fat Leonard"), and his Singapore-based company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia, bribed U.S. Navy officers to win lucrative husbandry contracts and reportedly bilked the U.S. Navy out of more than $35 million. Francis was known for his lavish entertaining and gifts to the Navy officers, including everything from luxury hotel stays to prostitutes, to get inside information on the Navy’s vessel service plans. Francis was finally sentenced to jail in the United States in 2024, after having briefly fled to Venezuela.
Other similar cases have emerged in other countries. In 2019, South Korea’s Ministry of Justice announced it was filing fraud charges against a supplier.
