Key facts
On behalf of the Finance Delegation, the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) conducted the “Audit of potential aspects of fraud at RUAG MRO” together with the law firm Niederer Kraft Frey (NKF). The associated draft interim report from NKF contained indications that RUAG may have used spare parts from the consignment warehouse owned by the Armed Forces for its own business with third parties without authorisation. As the Armed Forces’ materials competence centre, RUAG manages multiple consignment warehouses for weapons systems at its locations. It is responsible for procurement, quality assurance, storage and maintenance.
The SFAO audit focused on the consignment warehouses for tracked vehicles belonging to RUAG Business Area Ground. This was because incidents had previously occurred in connection with the Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 tanks. It was not possible to ascertain the total value of the consignment warehouse for tracked vehicles during the audit because all materials are written down to zero directly after purchase.
The present findings cannot allay the suspicion that in the past RUAG obtained materials from the consignment warehouses for tracked vehicles for its own business with third parties without authorisation and thereby damaged the Armed Forces’ asset base. As the responsible system and life cycle manager, the Armed Forces Logistics Organisation (AFLO) has insufficient control over the stock levels and outflows of materials. To date, RUAG has not granted read access to AFLO for its inventory system. RUAG merely provides AFLO with an annual summary of the consignment warehouse’s stock levels and in- and outflows. Between 2014 and 2023, RUAG scrapped 1,140 items and made 1’319 inventory adjustments without AFLO authorisation.