Corrupt ex-minister took £1m bribes on arms sales
From Roger Boyes, in Berlin
GERMANY’S former spy chief and junior Defence Minister confessed yesterday to accepting bribes on arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
His trial on charges of tax avoidance, bribery and corruption is expected to implicate senior politicians and threatens to embarrass the political class during the general election campaign.
Ludwig-Holger Pfahls, 62, referring to a €1 million (£665,000) backhander for his help in an arms deal, said yesterday: “I really cannot explain how this slip-up came to pass.”
A further €500,000 was paid for his help in the sale of tanks to Saudi Arabia in the 1990s. “I would like to stress that I would have supported these deals in any case,” he said. He claimed in court that the bribes were transferred to his account by Karl-Heinz Schreiber, an arms dealer whose extradition is sought from Canada.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1672614,00.html
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