Another great example of #ButNothingsHappening and how investigating the money laundering, leads to the crimes & criminals who were using those networks! Often with government assistance or acquiescence. In this case, draining the Swamp in Spain. Bribery for arms deals in Saudi!
Not some new scandal but an old own finally percolating to the top! State owned (51%) Defex has been caught bribing Saudi officials & 'illegal commissions' to their executives on deals from 1992-2014. The first case was for 1992-2005, but it uncovered evidence for 2005-2014 cases
Great coverage by @OCCRP in this case. Bribes to unidentified people with "connections" to Saudi officials. Wonder if it is the same officials who MBS locked up for corruption in 2017! Corruption, bribery & money laundering: the usual witches brew of #ButNothingsHappening cases!
@OCCRP If you guessed shell companies with heavily padded invoices & invoices with no contracts then you would be right for the methods used to make the money disappear into the laundromats around the world. All found when investigating a funny transaction for police gear in Angola!
@OCCRP Of course there is government involvement in this scandal too. Seems the Spanish government owns 51% of Defex while the contractors making the weapons & equipment own the other 49%. Seems like it was set up just to serve as a buffer between those groups & the illegal arms deals.
@OCCRP Of course there is more to this story that will unwind as people dig into it. This was govt/corporate fraud that we anticipate to find when a light is shown into shell company transactions! elpais.com/elpais/2018/10…
@OCCRP Of course the executive involved were getting some of the kickbacks. Wonder how much was going to politicians? My guess is: Enough. Enough to make everyone look the other way for 23 years!
@OCCRP Well, government ownership of the company greased the skids for government approval of the licenses for the arms sales.
Money was then moved through a "complex constellation" of companies to launder it & conceal where it went & where it came from. One based in the Cayman Islands.
@OCCRP One of the suspects is an executive whose uncle is Spanish spy & corrupt businessman Francisco Paesa. He once faked his own death in Thailand, then claimed he was shot on a counter terror mission, whisked to a boat & stayed in a coma for 7 months.
@OCCRP After the allegations became known, the Spanish Cabinet moved to dissolve the company but it keeps operating under a holding company while it is awaiting liquidation. You have to complete those deliveries or customers want their bribes back!
@OCCRP So how do you deflect a scandal & hide for so long? Willing press & state agents looking the other way? This article claims that 2 of the companies that own stakes in it are US companies, but they are both located in Madrid with US subsidiaries. Are they threatening US exposure?
@OCCRP Huh, a Luxembourg flag for money laundering exposed this operation with connections to Egypt, several Gulf states, South America, please go on...
Wonder if those 2012 operations in Egypt were moving arms into or out of Libya to Al Qaeda & ISIS affiliates?
@OCCRP That 2012 investigation was shutdown by the govt until it was revived in 2014. But imagine that Tax Agency workers & money laundering investigators all turned a blind eye. Spanish prosecutors were also "remarkably passive" in investigating this corruption. Sounds like Obama's DOJ
@OCCRP Even the Defense Minister of Spain stepped in to block the shutdown of the corrupt company. But now those investigations have been revived, the evidence has been tracked down, the Spanish Swamp is starting to drain!
@OCCRP As an example (that may not be connected) here is a case of allegations against Spanish politicians getting kickbacks for arranging foreign business deals for Spanish companies. irishtimes.com/news/world/eur…
@OCCRP This one was related to a plant in Algiers.
@OCCRP Yep, shell companies linked to wealth management firms helping rich people hide their ill gotten gains!
@OCCRP Ah, but the judge did link the consulting firm to one of the Defex deals in 2010 to supply arms to Egypt. One had to resign from Spain's Congress, the other as Ambassador to India. Of course the one is still working for the Spanish government as of 2017!
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