U.S. authorities are investigating whether payments by Raytheon Technologies to a consultant for the Qatar Armed Forces may have been bribes intended for a member of the country's ruling royal family, people familiar with the matter said
A Raytheon spokesman said the company maintains a “rigorous” anticorruption compliance program and is cooperating with the government inquiries. The spokesman declined to comment on the focus of the inquiries, citing the continuing investigations.
Qatar, which has a population of fewer than 3 million, spent an estimated $6.5 billion on defense in 2020, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Raytheon has been awarded contracts in Qatar valued at more than $7 billion since 2014, including for building and servicing its signature Patriot missile system and other air-defense infrastructure, according to a tally of public records by the Journal.
After the project’s collapse, Tarek Fouad, a dual U.S. and British citizen and one of Digital Soula Systems’s three directors, sued the QAF for $4.4 million in fees he said were owed for the consulting firm’s work. In the lawsuit, Mr. Fouad also alleged that his two former co-directors had negotiated an illegitimate settlement with the QAF in order to avoid prosecution in Qatar for facilitating the alleged bribery by Raytheon.
Mr. Fouad alleged that Raytheon between 2014 and 2016 directed a series of payments into bank accounts associated with Digital Soula Systems. Bank statements included in his lawsuit show several such payments from Raytheon in 2014, the former director alleged.
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