In his ruling, Jose de la Mata of Spain's High Court said there was evidence that Defex obtained contracts to supply material to police in the African country by paying "illegal commissions" to Angolan authorities.

Some Defex managers are suspected of having collected heft commissions from these contracts.

De la Mata ordered Defex and 24 people, including former top company officials, to stand trial for corruption, money laundering and embezzlement.

Among those ordered to stand trial is Beatriz Garcia Paesa, the niece of a famous Spanish spy.

No date for the start of the rial was set.

De Mata is also investigating two other suspected cases of corruption involving the sale of weapons and military equipment by Defex to the governments of Cameroon and Saudi Arabia.

Defex was founded in 1972 by the Spanish state to help export products made by the country's defence industry. It was dissolved in 2017.