{
  "id": 15362215,
  "title": "Podcast: Tanks, Sheikhs, Millions: Dubious Commission Deals of KMW, predecessor to KNDS",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/18/podcast-panzer-scheichs-millionen-dubiose-provisionsgeschafte-des",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-18T06:03:31.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/audio/crime/podcast-panzer-scheichs-millionen-dubiose-provisionsgeschaefte-des-knds-vorgaengers-kmw/100263028.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "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.",
  "summary": "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.",
  "key_points": [
    "KMW sold 62 Leopard-2 tanks to Qatar for 1.9 billion Euros in 2013",
    "Investigation by Handelsblatt reveals web of companies and payments",
    "Former KNDS firm prepares for IPO, story resurfaces"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}