Israel: 12 indicted on fraud charges related to transportation tenders

Tel Aviv [Israel], March 4 (ANI/TPS): Israel's Competition Authority filed what it called a "serious and wide-ranging indictment" against 12 senior officials of transportation companies and their firms.
The Authority alleges that they coordinated dozens of public tenders for transportation services of local authorities, hospitals and the electric company and fraudulently won these tenders worth tens of millions shekel in violation of the law.
The investigation of the affair began in 2018 by the Investigations Department of the Competition Authority together with the Israel Police - Lahav Unit 433. The investigation revealed tender coordination carried out by the defendants systematically between 2018-2016.
This is a branched and complex investigation, during which the investigators were required to trace the various coordinating partners, the evidence that established the coordination, and the funds, fraudulently received for the execution of the various tenders, in the bank accounts of the accused companies.
A central part of the case deals with the coordination of tenders published by local authorities for transporting students in the education and special education system as well as tenders for transporting disabled students and toddlers to various institutions.
The state participates in the financing of transportation services for students through the transfer of funds from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Welfare and Social Security to the local authorities.
Several of the accused have already been convicted. (ANI/TPS)