Italian national police announced on Thursday they arrested 31 people, including public officials, members of the military, and businessmen, suspected of corruption and fraud related to procurement contracts of the country’s armed forces.
Italian national police investigated military procurement fraud for nearly a year. (Photo credit:Polizia di Stato)Throughout the year-long investigation, police uncovered what they described as various episodes of corruption between businessmen and the military, which resulted in the siphoning of millions of euros out of public military contracts.
They also discovered in a latter stage of their investigation that there were several incidents of corruption amongst senior Air Force officers, who allegedly committed “contractual fraud” in the production of badges that were used on military uniforms.
According to ANSA, an Italian news wire service, an army general and colonel were placed on house arrest in relation to these allegations.
A decree was also issued to seize millions of euros that had been paid to senior offices of the armed forces, according to Rai News.
Defence Minister Lorenzio Guerini said that the charges, if true, would be “all the more serious because they were committed by army officers.”
