Israel to charge Kenya-based contractor with bribery

Israeli police say they have gathered enough evidence to push forward a bribery case against executives in the parent firm of a company that has rehabilitated roads in Kericho, Kakamega, Machakos, among other areas in Kenya in the past few years.

Shikun and Binui, the parent company of Solel Boneh International (SBI) Holdings, is alleged to have engaged in various acts of bribery in Africa and particularly in Kenya where Israeli investigators focused on.

Reuters on Sunday quoted Israeli police saying they had completed investigations and will soon send the results to the State prosecutor’s office.

“Offences, they said, include bribery of a foreign public servant, misrepresentation of corporate documents, conspiracy, disruption of legal proceedings, money laundering and misreporting to authorities between 2008 and 2016,” added the Reuters report.

The police statement said that in Kenya alone, where their investigations were centred, “bribes totalling tens of millions of shekels were transferred, generating projects and benefits worth hundreds of millions of shekels”.

PROJECTS

One of SBI’s major projects was the rehabilitation of the road that connects the Mau Summit with Kisumu via Kericho, which began in 2010 and was funded by the World Bank to the tune of Sh14 billion.

It also did the rehabilitation of a section of Mombasa Road that starts at the Machakos turnoff to Sultan Hamud, another World Bank-funded project. On the SBI website, the project’s value is indicated as $4.8 billion (Sh485 billion).

It has also been the one reconstructing the Kisumu-Kakamega highway, also a World Bank-supported project. SBI placed a Sh5.7 billion bid for the works on that stretch.

On its website, SBI says it has executed major projects in Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Romania, Azerbaijan and Cote d'Ivoire.

TRANSPORT MINISTRY

Investigations of the company’s operations in Kenya reached a climax in April 2018 when Israeli police raided offices of companies associated with Shikun and Binui, the largest construction group in Israel, and froze some of their bank accounts.

Two months earlier, Israeli police had started questioning former officials at Shikun and Binui to explain their role in the alleged bribery of Transport ministry officials so they could win tenders.

In September 2018, SBI issued a statement saying Israeli authorities had cleared its officials of any wrongdoing in tender awards, adding that a whistle-blower who reported the matter had withdrawn the case.

Sunday’s announcement contradicted SBI’s earlier announcement. Reuters reported that 50 suspects were interrogated in the course of the investigation. That number included 19 public servants in Kenya.

The media agency’s efforts to get a response from Shikun and Binui on the matter did not yield fruit.