Israeli Regulator Wants to Question Siemens Officials in Bribery Case

The Israel Securities Authority wants to question officials from Siemens (SIEMENS.NS) as part of a corruption investigation at state-owned Israel Electric Corp (IEC), the Calcalist financial newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The authority has been investigating whether IEC executives accepted bribes during a tender for gas turbines over a decade ago. Germany engineering group Siemens bid against General Electric in the tender.

Calcalist said the regulator has asked Israel's Justice Ministry to contact its counterpart in Germany to arrange the questioning with current and former Siemens officials.

When contacted by Reuters, the Securities Authority said it did not comment on its investigations. A Siemens spokesman in Germany also declined to speak on the topic.

In 2013, Israel arranged for the extradition of Dan Cohen, a former judge and director at IEC, from Peru, and arrested him on suspicion of receiving millions of dollars in bribes.

Cohen was indicted in a number of affairs, including bribery connected with the turbines tender in 1999.

The securities regulator at the time said Cohen used his influence and status at IEC to guarantee Siemens a win in exchange for about 1 million euros ($1.08 million) that would be deposited in a foreign bank account.
 

Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch