Documents were confiscated and up to 15 people, officers, defense staff and others, were charged. According to information received by Aftenposten.no at least one of the charged is a ranking general in the Defense Staff.
"We have carried out searches of homes and workplaces several places in Norway, District Attorney Geir Kavlie at (Special economic crime force) Økokrim told Aftenposten.no.
The raids were carried out on the strength of a governmental report carried out by the Dalseide Commission, which found symptomatic corruption related to Defense IT contracts.
Siemens Business Services of Oslo was ordered Friday to pay a fine of NOK 9 million (USD 1.6 million) for defrauding the Norwegian military through overbilling.
According to Økokrim the company overbilled the Defense more than NOK 60 million between 2000 and 2005 in connection with deliveries. Siemens had a massive defense contract to deliver a communication system that was supposed to better integrate the various branches of the military.
In 2002 Per Yngve Monsen at Siemens' production division noticed the overbilling, and also that Defense staff were taking bribes from Siemens. Monsen lost his job in 2004 and received little attention from military leaders when telling his story.
"There had already been reports of poor financial management in the Defense at that time. Military leadership had not initiated a single audit of a NOK 1.3 billion (USD 239 million) contract in four and half years," Monsen told Aftenposten.
"Many of the Defense staff had a past with Siemens. And the military leadership was not very interested in focusing on the widespread bribery going on. People were being taken to Marbella, Cannes and the USA. There were weekly dinners. Økokrim's raid doesn't surprise me. On the contrary, it was high time. It is because of my warnings that this is happening now," Monsen said.
The Dalseide Commission was formed to investigate corruption in the military after Monsen's story first came to media attention. The commission produced two reports to the government, one in 2006 and a new one this spring.
According to newspaper VG the latest report lists and names individuals in the military and what benefits they have received from suppliers. The Dalseide reports have resulted in the Økokrim investigation.
The Ministry of Defense released a written statement saying it was working purposefully towards a military service with an orderly relationship to business.
On Wednesday Siemens board chairman Hans Lødrup resigned. The company said in a press release that the 'Alicante' case (subsidized golfing trips for military figures) had caused such damage to its reputation that parent company Siemens AG and Lødrup agreed that he should step down.
