In April 2002, the Die Welt reported that Germany's Federal Auditors' Office was investigating the Defence Ministry after anonymous accusations of irregularities in awarding contracts for a new computer and telephone network.
The auditors wrote to the Defence Ministry asking it to clear up the allegations, made in a letter from unnamed employees at the army's procurement unit, that "bribery, preferential treatment and unacceptable agreements" have played a role in ordering the network, Die Welt said.
The project, named Herkules, is expected to cost more than 6 billion euros ($5.3 billion) and scheduled to run over 10 years, the daily newspaper reported.
The paper reported that Dietrich Austermann, a lawmaker from the opposition Christian Democratic Union, accused Defence Minister Rudolf Scharping of failing to issue a public tender for the order.
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