US indicts 3 Israelis in intl. bribery case

Wed, 20 Jan 2010

The US Justice Department has indicted three Israeli businessmen for attempting to bribe the defense minister of an African country to win a multi-million military contract.

The businessmen, along with 18 others indicted in the same case, were arrested in Las Vegas, where they were attending a sports and hunting convention, following a 2 and a half year FBI surveillance and sting operation. The 22nd defendant was arrested in Miami.

The Israelis are 50-year-old Ofer Paz and Haim Geri, the presidents of an Israeli company and North Miami Beach, Florida, company, respectively. Both firms act as sales agent for companies in the law enforcement and military products industries.

The third is Yochanan R. Cohen, also known as Yochi Cohen, 47, who serves as the chief executive officer of a San Francisco company that manufactures security equipment.

The defendants allegedly agreed to pay a 20 percent commission to an undercover FBI agent playing the African minister.

The indictments charge the businessmen with conspiracy and substantive violations of the corrupt practices act and conspiracy to engage in money laundering, Haaretz reported.

The charges related to the corrupt practices act could mean the defendants face a maximum five-year prison sentence if convicted, while the maximum sentence for money laundering conspiracy is 20 years.

The case marks the largest single investigation and prosecution of individuals in the history of the 1977 US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bans bribery of foreign government officials in order to secure business contracts.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116609§ionid=3510203.