The Tel Aviv District Court today found Siemens Israel guilty of conspiracy to commit a crime as part of a plea bargain agreement. The court has imposed a fine of NIS 63 million on Siemens Israel, which is controlled by the international Siemens AG conglomerate.
Under the terms of the agreement, Siemens Israel admitted to conspiracy to commit a crime and agreed to pay the NIS 63 million fine to the State. In addition, the appointment of the external supervisor has been extended by one year as part of the arrangement agreed with Siemens international.
The conviction brings the entire affair to a conclusion after senior executives of the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) (TASE: ELEC.B22) were convicted of receiving bribes, also in a plea bargain agreement, and were handed major prison sentences.
The amended indictment, following Siemens's admission, relates to a period when Siemens Israel and Siemens AG had major business interests with IEC and relationships developed between executives of the companies that went beyond the acceptable between representatives of a government company and those of a supplier bound by tenders. Siemens Israel was also convicted of involvement in creating an infrastructure for transferring money from Siemens AG to Israeli recipients, concealing their source, using straw companies and fictitious consultancy agreements.
The amended indictment says that with the involvement of Siemens Israel $9.5 million was transferred for bribes to senior IEC employees. At the same time, $2.5 million from this was paid to IEC employees.
These events took place between 1999-2004 and since then IEC has undertaken a far reaching change in its organizational culture.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 6, 2017
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