Agusta scandal

The Agusta scandal or Agusta affair (French: Affaire Agusta, Dutch: Agustaschandaal), alternatively known as the Agusta–Dassault Case, was a corruption scandal in Belgium during the 1990s. It resulted from the discovery that the aviation firms Agusta and Dassault had bribed various Belgian office-holders in 1988 in order to secure a large order of Agusta A109 helicopters from the Belgian Army and the deals for refitting Belgian F-16 Fighting Falcon jets respectively. Several politicians from the Walloon and Flemish Socialist parties, including the incumbent Secretary General of NATO Willy Claes, were to resign as a result of the scandal and its subsequent investigation.

The investigation into the purchase was started by the investigative team looking into the 1991 assassination of André Cools, a politician of the Francophone Parti Socialiste (PS) and former Deputy Prime Minister, when it turned out that Cools had knowledge about the Agusta deal. An official investigation into the deal was started in January 1993, by judge Véronique Ancia, when a search warrant was issued for Agusta and its lobbyist Georges Cywie.

In January 1994, the Belgian Senate removed the immunity on the Minister-President of Wallonia, Guy Spitaels, and the minister Guy Mathot (), both from the PS, and members of the Walloon Government.

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