Case File

The Greek Submarine Scandal

Author
World Peace Foundation
Published on
November 27, 2020
(updated September 12, 2022)
Image
Image Caption: The Greek submarine S-111 HS Nirefs, a Type-209 built by HDW and launched in July 1971, passes Agkistri, Greece, in June 2008. Image Source: Flickr/Creative Commons, Leonidas Konstantinidis.
Image Caption: The Greek submarine S-111 HS Nirefs, a Type-209 built by HDW and launched in July 1971, passes Agkistri, Greece, in June 2008. Image Source: Flickr/Creative Commons, Leonidas Konstantinidis.

Contents

Contents

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Introduction

Introduction

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The Greek military has consistently enjoyed strong fiscal support from the central budget much to the envy of its NATO peers and the consternation of Athens’ creditors. Since the end of the Cold War, military expenditure has never dipped below 2.3% of GDP; in the 1990s it hovered between 3% and 4%. One of the major acquisition projects funded in the last two decades was a recapitalization of the Hellenic Navy’s submarine force, which operated eight German-built U-209 variants at the time the program was launched. Returning to the German shipyards, the Greek government signed a deal in 2000 with Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) and Ferrostaal for three new U-214 submarines and later exercised an option to purchase another. The EUR 1.26 billion contract, however, was later found to have been made possible by EUR 100 million in bribes paid out to Greek defence officials and various consultants. A third firm, STN Atlas, paid up to EUR 13 million in bribes to ensure its sensor systems were installed onboard the new submarines.

Case Details

Case details

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Seller country
Germany
Seller company
Ferrostaal, Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (currently owned by ThyssenKrupp), STN Atlas (currently owned by ThyssenKrupp)
Buyer country
Greece
Goods category
Submarines
Equipment sold
4 U-214 Submarines
Deal value
EUR 1.26 billion
Sum involved in corruption
EUR 133 million
Start year
1998
End year
2016
Outcome status
Mixed, Trial Closed - Some Convictions, Out of Court Settlement

Actors

Actors

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  • Akis Tsochadzopoulos — Greek Defence Minister (1996-2001); sentenced in October 2013 to 20 years imprisonment for money laundering. (The statute of limitations had passed for the corruption charges).

  • Yiannis Beltsios — associate of Tsochadzopoulos; convicted of taking bribes and received an eight-year suspended sentence.

  • Sotiris Emmanouil — managing director of Skaramangas shipyards; convicted of accepting bribes, received a 20-year suspended sentence.

  • Antonis Kantas — deputy head of procurement, Greek Defence Ministry; received leniency for admitting bribe-taking and for airing allegations. Received a suspended 10-year sentence. Was previously convicted and sentenced to a 25-year sentence for involvement in a communications bribery scandal.

  • Jean-Claude Oswald — French banker; convicted of laundering bribes and sentenced in absentia to five years in prison.

  • Panagiotis Efstathiou — an agent for Atlas Elektronik; convicted of bribery and received a nine-year suspended sentence.

  • Johann-Friedrich Haun — senior manager of Ferrostaal; convicted of bribery, fined and received a suspended prison term.

  • Hans-Dieter Mühlenbeck — senior manager of Ferrostaal; convicted of bribery, fined and received a suspended prison term.

Allegations

Summary of Corruption Allegations

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To secure the deal, Ferrostaal paid up to EUR 120 million in bribes to a large number of Greek officials, most notably the Minister of Defence, Akis Tsochadzopoulos, and Antonis Kantas, deputy head of procurement at the Ministry of Defence.

Timeline

Timeline

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1996
  • JanThe Greek navy's search for new submarines came partially in response to the war-scare, when Greece nearly came to blows with Turkey over the islet of Imia/Kardak.
  • Later that year, Greece announced a USD 17 billion, 10-year acquisition plan.
1998
  • The decision to select the German acquisition option was made. The prior submarine tender was met with bids from French, Swedish, and German firms. The perceived imperative to upgrade the Greek navy was paired with a concern to preserve the country’s faltering shipbuilding sector. Thus, the contract for new Type-214 submarines was married with a takeover of Hellenic Shipyards, a fiscally distraught concern, by the HDW-Ferrostaal consortium. The negotiators agreed to offsets as well, including provisions requiring HDW to help sell Greek products abroad, to transfer know-how to Greek shipyards, and to construct everything from rail cars to new ferries.
2004
  • After the first submarine was completed by HDW in Kiel, the Hellenic Navy refused to accept the vessel because of a long list of alleged defects. The Germans responded, arguing that the Greeks were attempting to stall payments.
2009
  • The Greek government had spent EUR 2 billion on the program, with another EUR 500 million in arrears.
2010
  • SepThe two sides agreed to a revised deal that expanded the program to acquisition of six new submarines; in the interim, three new vessels had been laid down at Hellenic Shipyards' Skaramanga facility.
2011
  • The new agreement had barely been inked when investigations into the deal became public.
  • MayThat year, HDW announced that it would abandon the deal amendment.
2016
  • The last of the four submarines ordered in 2000 and 2002 was finally delivered.

Outcomes

Investigation Outcomes

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2010
  • MayAn investigation in Germany into bribe-giving at Ferrostaal began in May 2010, and eventually was refocused on corruption associated not only with the Greek submarine deal, but also the sale of submarines to Portugal and a compressor station to Turkmenistan.
2011
  • MayGreek investigators with the Financial Crimes Squad (SDOE) went public with their findings and initially suggested that 37 people had been contacted by a prosecutor about their role in the submarine deal and that EUR 100 million in bribes had been distributed. The investigation also claimed that the price of the submarines was inflated through requests for extra equipment, and that this inflation allowed for more bribes to be paid. The total estimate of bribes paid was later increased to EUR 120 million.
  • DecAs a result of the German investigation, two senior Ferrostaal employees, Johann-Friedrich Haun and Hans-Dieter Mühlenbeck, were fined and received suspended jail sentences and the company itself was fined EUR 40 million. A parallel investigation into HDW was reportedly dropped due to lack of cooperativeness from Greek authorities.
2013
  • OctThe parallel Greek investigation netted its most prominent conviction when former defence minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos was found guilty of laundering the bribes he received in connection with the submarine deal as well as a separate purchase of Russian missiles. Family members and associates of Tsochatzopoulos were also convicted in the trial.
  • Antonis Kantas, the deputy head of procurement at the Defence Ministry at the time of the submarine deal, began cooperating with prosecutors in Greece.
2014
  • JanA Greek agent who had worked for STN Atlas, a German electronics company controlled by BAE Systems and Rheinmetall at the time the submarine deals were signed, implicated the firm in the corruption scandal as well. According to the agent, Panagiotis Efstathiou, STN Atlas paid up to EUR 3 million in bribes to ensure its ISUS 90 sensor suite was installed on the Greek submarines.
2015
  • MarIn Greece, Antonis Kantas eventually provided information that led to the indictment of 32 individuals associated with the deal. Kantas' testimony hinted at the purposes of the bribery - to overcome the opposition of officials who felt that the spending spree Greece pursued after the 1996 crisis was either ill-advised overall or poorly executed in selecting equipment appropriate to the Greek military's needs.
2017
  • JunAfter an investigation, the Bremen Public Prosecutor's Office announced in June 2017 that it had established that Atlas Elektronik GmbH, the Bremen-based successor to STN Atlas' naval systems division after a split in 2003, had paid as much as EUR 13 million in commissions related to the deal. Atlas Elektronik, which is now jointly owned by Airbus and ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, agreed to disgorge EUR 48 million in profits stemming from the Greek deal and a separate investigation involving the sale of torpedoes to Peru. The Bremen Public Prosecutor's Office noted that investigations into the personal liability of 17 individuals would continue despite the settlement.
2019
  • JanA court convicted Sotiris Emmanouil, the banker Jean-Claude Oswald, Kantas, and other defendants for taking and handling bribes in the submarine deals. Most of the defendants were handed down lengthy suspended sentences, including a 20-year sentence for Emmanouil. Oswald, who did not appear in Greece for the trial, was sentenced to five years in prison. Ministry official Spyros Travlos and several other co-defendants were found to be innocent.
  • JanA Greek court sentenced Efstathiou to a nine-year suspended prison term.

References

References

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