Simon Van Dorpe

NATO’s procurement chief under fire amid corruption scandal, leak reveals The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) is mired in a corruption scandal, and top officials have raised concerns about its approach to tackling graft. Internal documents reveal how General Mana...

🔥 NATO procurement chief Stacy Cummings came under fire twice this year from top officials within her agency. They accuse her of not tackling corruption, favouritism and undue interference. Today, @ftm.eu publishes the documents, with @lalettre.bsky.social and @lesoir.be www.ftm.eu/articles/nat...

Once a Pariah, Saudi Prince Resets U.S. Relations on His Own Terms Seven years ago, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman couldn’t visit Washington. When he arrived at the White House on Tuesday, he got F-35s, the world’s fastest chips and the central role in the remaking of the Middle East.

Seven years ago, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia couldn’t visit Washington.

When he arrived at the White House Tuesday, he got F-35s stealth fighters, the world’s fastest chips and the central role in the remaking of the Middle East.

Newsletter | Denmark steps in to revive the EU’s deadlocked anti-corruption rules Follow the Money - Platform for investigative journalism

⚖️📬 In our new Crime & Corruption newsletter: Denmark revives EU anti-corruption talks, charges against Manfred Weber are dropped, the world moves toward a UN tax treaty, Zelensky faces scrutiny over Ukraine’s energy sector, and an OnlyFans creator is jailed with a hefty tax bill.

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More than half of possible fraud cases the European Court of Auditors (ECA) transfers to EPPO/OLAF for further investigation relates to cohesion policy, ECA member Stef Blok says

EU prosecutors dismiss probe into chief of Europe's most powerful party Follow the Money - Platform for investigative journalism

‼️ EU prosecutors dropped a probe into EPP chief Manfred Weber and two of his aides. They were investigating whether EU money was used to pay national party staff, but said today: "there are no reasonable grounds to believe that a criminal offence has been committed" www.ftm.eu/articles/eu-...

Nicolas Sarkozy va sortir de prison sous contrôle judiciaire, la cour d’appel lui interdit tout contact avec Gérald Darmanin Une interdiction d’entrer en contact avec l’ensemble des prévenus, le ministre de la justice et son cabinet a été prononcée. Nicolas Sarkozy est par ailleurs interdit de quitter le territoire.

How five years were reduced to twenty days 🫠. Nicolas Sarkozy will be released from prison, French media report. Despite his own 2012 campaign promise that "No one should be released from their sentence before having served at least two-thirds of it." www.lemonde.fr/societe/arti...

Brussels turns blind eye as Albania’s drug empire threatens Europe Under Prime Minister Edi Rama, Albania has become a narco-state over the past 10 years. Albanian criminal networks are increasingly active in Europe. Yet, the EU continues to support Rama's efforts to...

“𝗠𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮 𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗼-𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲.”

Albania is closer than ever to joining the EU – yet it’s also one of Europe’s most thriving drug hubs – run by mafia networks.

What’s happening? And why does Brussels keep turning a blind eye?

🔗 Read why it matters across Europe: www.ftm.eu/articles/alb...

Ex-EU justice chief Didier Reynders charged with money laundering The charge comes after months of investigation.

🔥 Ex-EU justice chief Didier Reynders charged with money laundering. @ftm.eu SCOOP with @lesoir.be @standaard.be and Le Vif www.ftm.eu/articles/rey...

Daily News 04 \/ 11 \/ 2025 Commission greenlights Denmark\'s fourth payment request of €175.4 million under NextGenerationEU\nToday, the European Commission positively assessed Denmark\'s fourth payment request for €175.4 milli...

Congratulations to Petr Klement on his appointment as Director-General of OLAF, the European Anti-Fraud Office @euantifraud.bsky.social !
 
🇪🇺 I look forward to working together for the protection of EU taxpayers’ money and strengthening the fight against fraud.

ec.europa.eu/commission/p...

How Google fooled Brussels: the tech giant’s playbook exposed Regulators in the U.S. and the EU are closing on tech giant Google in an attempt to break up its dominance over the internet. An investigation by Follow the Money reveals how Google has persuaded lawm...

How Google won friends and influenced people - while slowly gobbling up a quarter of all ad revenue on the internet.

Here's my look at two decades of Google’s ruthless tactics to secure its dominance.

www.ftm.eu/articles/goo...

Podcast | Inside the NATO corruption scandal A NATO corruption scandal made international headlines when several suspects were arrested across Europe earlier this year. But a cross-border investigation reveals that just a few months later, the U...

🎙️ A NATO corruption scandal rocked Europe – then the US quietly dropped charges against four suspects. In our new FTM podcast, Jesse Pinster and Simon Van Dorpe uncover why Washington backed off the crackdown.

Listen to our latest episode here: www.ftm.eu/articles/pod...

Who FUNDS Europe's THOUGHTS ⚡

www.ftm.eu/articles/a-t...

#Natogate: scandal, fallout, reckoning? Follow the Money - Platform for investigative journalism

⚠️ At a time of exploding military expenditure, the NATO corruption scandal revealed this week by @ftm.eu, @lalettre.bsky.social, @lesoir.be and @knack.be highlights the need to strengthen procurement controls. Read our today's newsletter for the latest ⤵️ www.ftm.eu/articles/nat...

The Shadow Fleet Secrets Hundreds of old oil vessels are used to avoid sanctions on Russian oil trade. By now, it is known where they are sailing, what they are shipping and where to. But who are the former owners of these sh...

Yes!!! The @ftm.nl -lead team of 40+ European journalists won the 'Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism'. The award was given for this investigation www.ftm.eu/files/the-sh...

Crime & Corruption The latest on corruption, fraud, money laundering, and shady dealings across Europe.

Don't miss tomorrow’s Crime & Corruption newsletter – we’ll be sharing fresh, unreported details about #Natogate: www.ftm.eu/newsletter-o...

‼️ In case you missed it ⤵️

Corruption à l'OTAN : révélations sur les marchés truqués d'armement (1/3) - LA LETTRE La Lettre et ses médias partenaires ont enquêté sur les réseaux d'anciens militaires à la manœuvre sur les contrats de l'agence de soutien et d'acquisition de l'OTAN (NSPA). Des employés de

💥 Corruption à l'OTAN : révélations sur les marchés truqués d'armement

La Lettre s’est associé avec Le Soir Knack et Follow the Money pour enquêter sur le #NATOgate (article en accès libre)

www.lalettre.fr/fr/entrepris...

Uitgerekend nu onze defensie-uitgaven explosief stijgen, wordt het NAVO-aankoopagentschap NSPA getroffen door liefst drie corruptieschandalen.

Dat blijkt uit #NATOgate, een onderzoek van @knack.be
@lalettre.bsky.social @ftm.eu @lesoir.be

Five things to know about the NATO corruption scandal NATO is getting embroiled in a million-euro corruption scandal. At a time that the defence alliance has promised to up its spending, Follow the Money and partners uncovered a network of officials and ...

Part II: Five things to know about the NATO corruption scandal www.ftm.eu/articles/the...

U.S. pulls plug on major NATO corruption probes – top suspects walk free A NATO corruption scandal made international headlines when several suspects were arrested across Europe in May. Several months later, the U.S. dropped charges against four of them – including a Turki...

Read the full stories for free today on ftm.eu

Part I: How the US pulled the plug www.ftm.eu/articles/us-...

YouTube video by EU Debates | eudebates.tv NATO Chief Mark Rutte: 'We Will Get to the Root of This' – Urgent Action on Procurement Scandal

Zooming out: 4 major NATO-related corruption probes in one year, 2 cases being suddenly dismissed by the Trump admin, despite NATO Secretary General Marc Rutte’s claim in May that “we want to get to the root of this”. Looks like daddy disagreed… www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntH9...

The former official, who saw the documents, concluded that political interference was the only rational explanation. Both cases had very strong evidence, including one with pictures of 130,000 euros in bribes that were paid to an NSPA official

But… The American investigation was suddenly and inexplicably dismissed on 9 July, together with another major NSPA bribery case. A former official at @thejusticedept.govmirrors.com likened the odds of that
happening to “lightning striking your house twice in one day”

Terlemez with Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto

The other main suspect in that case was Ismail Terlemez, (you’ve guessed it) another former NSPA official who, in a few years time, became one of Turkey’s most successful military entrepreneurs with his ammunition company Arca defence

Things got really interesting when we bumped into a US citizen who owns the Luxembourg-based consultancy where Guy M worked right after he quit NSPA. Scott Willason is also ex-NSPA and… turns out to have been a suspect in a far-advanced US bribery case

From NATO spokesperson response to our investigation

M disputes the amount of the alleged bribes: a staggering 1.9 million euros. Two current NSPA employees were stripped of their immunity by NATO Secretary General Marc Rutte and brought in for questioning. Both were suspended by NATO. One of them, Tom VB, remains in custody.

Man uit Bredene (59) die verdacht wordt van corruptie bij aankopen voor de NAVO, blijft in de cel In het onderzoek naar mogelijke corruptie bij aankopen van militair materiaal voor de NAVO heeft de Brugse raadkamer een 59-jarige man uit Bredene <a href="https://www.hln.be/bredene/bredenaar-59-krij...

We first found the main suspect in the Belgian probe: Guy M, a former Belgian military man and NSPA-employee-turned-consultant. After his arrest at Brussels airport, M confessed he passed confidential NATO procurement info to clients
www.hln.be/bredene/man-...

NATO Procurement Officials Face Corruption Probe NATO officials accused of leaking secrets and laundering bribes through fake firms to secure arms deals. Belgium leads a growing cross-border investigation into procurement corruption involving drones...

Following press releases in May from Belgian and Dutch prosecutors about corruption probes at the Nato Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), @ftm.eu started digging with @lalettre.bsky.social, @lesoir.be and #Knack www.occrp.org/en/news/nato...

💥 Here’s what you need to know about #Natogate, the corruption scandal that broke today, in 10 skeets #bagsofcash #ammunition #NSPA (link to full stories below)