PERH technical director detained on corruption suspicions
Police in Estonia have detained Ivo Milli, technical director of the infrastructure engineer service of North Estonia Medical Centre (PERH), Northern Estonia's largest hospital, as a suspect in corruption.
Milli, 55, is suspected of violating the requirements of public procurement tenders organized by PERH as well as of fraud, repeatedly accepting and seeking bribes, document forgery, the use of forged documents as well as money-laundering, Central Criminal Police spokesperson Helen Uldrich told ERR's online news portal.
The police also questioned a project manager at the same center, 64, suspected of fraud and the violation of the requirements of public procurement tenders.
According to allegations, the technical director secured a number of advantages for companies participating in the hospital's public procurement tenders in exchange for a bribe. The aggregate value of the tenders, most of which were for construction and design work, exceeds €10 million.
"We have reason to claim that several companies and their representatives who had participated in the public procurement tenders are connected to the suspicion," said chief state prosecutor Steven-Hristo Evestus, the prosecutor leading the pretrial investigation. "This will lead to allegations against several legal persons as well."
The criminal case is being investigated by the Corruption Crimes Bureau of the Central Criminal Police under the direction of the Office of the Prosecutor General.
PERH: We will update procurement system, risk management, internal audits
Agris Peedu, chairman of the board at PERH, told ERR's online news portal that the hospital's board finds it very important that they take all possible measures to prevent corruption.
"We have already initiated activities to this end," he noted. "We will be updating the procurement system, purchasing management, risk management and internal audits. Any necessary changes will be implemented on a running basis by the regional hospital's board and council during the 2017 year."
Editor: Editor: Aili Vahtla