According to a press release posted on the website of the Finnish Office of the Prosecutor General, the prosecution is also demanding a corporate fine for Patria, which won in 2006 the tender for the supply of 135 armoured personnel carriers worth EUR 278m.
The defendants are suspected of having participated in promising or giving of bribes in the form of commission payments through intermediaries in exchange for actions of Slovenian public officials and military officers.
"These, among others the prime minister and the deputy chief of General Staff of Slovenia, were considered to have leverage in the procurement procedure of the vehicles," the press release says.
It says that "alleged bribes are suspected to comprise a remarkable part of the commission payments, which were promised to the amount of at least 10% of the total value of the sale, which exceeded EUR 160m".
According to the indictment, only a part of the commission payments had been paid out, when an attempt to make a further transfer of money in Austria was exposed as suspected money laundering. This resulted in the launch of an extensive pre-trial investigation in cooperation of Finnish, Austrian and Slovenian authorities.
Moreover, in the course of the pre-trial investigation into suspected corruption, documents supposed to contain trade secrets of an Austrian competitor of Patria were also found in possession of the suspects, which gave rise to suspicions of business espionage, the release says.
The indictment in Finland comes after charges were also filed in connection to the case in Austria, where two businessmen are charged with acting as mediators in the bribery and industrial espionage, as well as in Slovenia, where Prime Minister Janez Janša is among five defendants accused of involvement in bribery.
Source:SloveniaTimes
