German electrical and engineering giant Siemens has agreed to pay a USD$42 million penalty to the Israeli government for bribes it paid to officials of state-owned Israel Electric in exchange for a contract to supply turbines more than ten years ago.

Siemens has also agreed to appoint an external inspector for supervision over their activities in Israel, Globes, Israel business news, has reported.

Additionally, Tel Aviv’s district attorney has filed indictments for bribery and money laundering against six senior executives of Israel Electric for their role in the wrongdoing, including:

David Cohn, former senior deputy director general;

Jacob Hain, former senior deputy CEO;

Haim Bar-Ner, former engineering and planning department deputy director;

David Elmakis, planning and development department deputy director;

Yona Sweater, former engineering and planning department director; and

Zvi Eyal, former planning department departmental head.

These individuals are suspected of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes that were transferred to accounts in Swiss banks or smuggled abroad in cash in suitcases, Globes reported.

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