PERH technical director suspected of corruption taken into custody
Harju County Court on Thursday authorized the arrest of Ivo Milli, the technical director of the infrastructure engineer service of North Estonia Medical Centre (PERH) accused of corruption crimes.
The court agreed to the request by chief state prosecutor Steven-Hristo Evestus and authorized the taking of Milli, 55, into custody for an initial period of up to two months.
"Materials gathered suggest that the suspect may continue committing crimes," explained Evestus, the prosecutor leading the pretrial investigation. "It is for this reason that the Prosecutor's Office sought an arrest warrant for him."
The Central Criminal Police detained Milli on Tuesday as he 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.
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.
Editor: Editor: Aili Vahtla