Former NATO Official and Turkish Defense Contractor Indicted for Bribery Scheme Related to Military Contracts
Monday, January 26, 2026 - An indictment filed in the District of Columbia was unsealed on Saturday charging a Turkish national and a German national for an alleged bribery scheme involving contracts with the U.S. military and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). NATO is a military alliance of which the United States is a member nation.
“These defendants allegedly engaged in a years-long bribery scheme that tainted construction contracts with the U.S. military and our allies,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Integrity in federal contracting is vital to ensuring a fair competitive process and protecting the public fisc. These charges demonstrate the department’s mission to eliminate corruption that skews procurement contracts away from the best bidder and toward those who can bribe insiders for preferential treatment.”
"With a global reach and formidable enforcement tools, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) and its partner agencies are committed to pursuing those who exploit the American taxpayer," said Special Agent in Charge Stanley A. Newell of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DOD-OIG-DCIS) Transnational Operations Field Office. "As the criminal investigative arm of the DoD Office of Inspector General, DCIS is dedicated to protecting the integrity of the U.S. military procurement system. Our investigators and analysts work diligently to bring to justice anyone attempting to corrupt this vital process."
“This indictment is a significant step forward in our relentless pursuit of integrity within the procurement processes that support our military and NATO operations,” said Special Agent in Charge Steven Ausfeldt of the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division’s Europe Field Office. “Our collaboration with DOD-OIG-DCIS, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, the FBI, and our international partners underscores our shared commitment to combat corruption in all its forms.”
“These charges demonstrate that the FBI is committed to investigating activity that manipulates U.S. contracts and ultimately imposes additional, unnecessary costs on American taxpayers," said Acting Assistant Director Mark Remily of the FBI's Criminal Division. "The FBI will work tirelessly to hold the individuals who engage in this type of corruption accountable, no matter where they are.”
According to the indictment, Bahadir Hatipoglu, 50, who resides near Klaipėda, Lithuania, is the owner of companies that received construction contracts with NATO and the U.S. military. Ralf Grywnow, 70, who resides in Zagnańsk, Poland, is a former NATO procurement official. The two men allegedly engaged in a scheme in which Hatipoglu bribed Grywnow in various ways, including by providing Grywnow with cash, a romantic encounter with a woman in Dubai and assistance in constructing and furnishing a house for Grywnow in Poland. In exchange, Grywnow allegedly helped Hatipoglu get contracts with the U.S. military by providing him with falsified reviews that favorably appraised Hatipoglu’s companies’ work with NATO. Grywnow also provided Hatipoglu with preferential treatment in overseeing contracts that Hatipoglu had or sought to obtain with NATO and gave Hatipoglu confidential information related to bids for NATO construction contracts.
Hatipoglu and Grywnow were arrested in Lithuania and Poland, respectively, pursuant to provisional arrest warrants. The U.S. Department of Justice is working with Lithuanian and Polish authorities to extradite both defendants to the United States, where they are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud. If convicted of any of the charges, each defendant faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
DOD-OIG-DCIS, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division and the FBI are investigating the case. Polish and Lithuanian authorities provided significant assistance pursuant to legal assistance treaties with the United States.
Trial Attorneys Dermot Lynch, Shy Jackson and Patrick Brown of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case. Substantial assistance was provided by the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law
U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
Source: Justice.gov
