Podcast: Tanks, Sheikhs, Millions: Dubious Commission Deals of KMW, predecessor to KNDS
One of the largest deals in the German arms industry from the KNDS predecessor company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann is overshadowed by dubious payments to Qatari companies.
In 2013, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann sold 62 Leopard-2 tanks and other military equipment to Qatar for around 1.9 billion euros. Investigative journalists Sönke Iwersen and Lars-Marten Nagel uncovered the deal, revealing a complex network of companies and high commission payments that benefited a Qatari intelligence general and his family.
The general now works as an ambassador in Moscow. The deal was negotiated under Chancellor Angela Merkel, with little restraint shown compared to other Middle Eastern countries. The case recently resurfaced as KNDS, a company formed from the merger of Nexter and KMW, planned an IPO.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's report — not a translation of it. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
