A former NATO procurement officer and the Turkish owner of a construction company were indicted by the U.S. in a bribery scheme involving construction contracts for the U.S. military and allies, the Justice Department said in a statement Jan. 26, 2026. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)
A former NATO procurement official and a Turkish contractor living in Lithuania are accused by American authorities of running a yearslong bribery scheme involving military construction contracts with the U.S. and the alliance.
Bahadir Hatipoglu, 50, and Ralf Grywnow, 70, a German national living in Poland, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud, the Justice Department said in a statement Monday.
Hatipoglu owns several companies that received U.S. and NATO military contracts, according to an indictment filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. and unsealed Saturday.
He is accused of offering cash, a romantic rendezvous with a woman in Dubai and help building and furnishing a house for Grywnow in Poland, according to the statement.
Grywnow, a former NATO procurement official, is accused of helping Hatipoglu get contracts with the U.S. military by giving him falsified reviews that favorably appraised the work of Hatipoglu’s companies with NATO, the Justice Department said.
It’s unclear what U.S. military construction projects or installations in Europe or elsewhere may have been involved.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for a copy of the indictment, which was not available Tuesday on a federal court records website.
Grywnow also is accused of giving Hatipoglu “preferential treatment in overseeing contracts that Hatipoglu had or sought to obtain with NATO and providing Hatipoglu confidential information related to bids for NATO construction contracts,” the Justice Department said.
Prosecutors said the scheme tainted construction contracts with the U.S. military and its allies.
Hatipoglu and Grywnow were arrested in their respective countries of residence, and U.S. officials are working with Lithuanian and Polish authorities to extradite them, the Justice Department said.
Each faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of any of the charges, according to the statement.
