Former City Official, Companies Convicted of Bribery
A former Tallinn official received a two-year suspended sentence yesterday and was stripped of a BMW he allegedly received as a bribe. Two companies and two of their board members were also found complicit.
According to the indictment, Signaal (now Liimi KV) and board member Ats Tamm paid out 122,359 euros in bribes to a former senior official in Tallinn's transport department from 2007 to 2010, in exchange for favors regarding contractual work with the city.
That official, Mati Songisepp, was given a three-year suspended sentence in 2012, but his successor, Vello Lõugas, who received 7,992 euros in bribes from the company in 2010, was found guilty by Harju County Court yesterday. Tamm also received a two-year suspended sentence yesterday. Signaal was ordered to pay a 100,000-euro fine.
Another company, K-Projekt (now Ahtri Projekt), was yesterday found guilty of giving Songisepp a 21,723-euro bribe in 2008. The company was ordered to pay 70,000 euros in fines and its board member Rein Annusver received a one-year suspended sentence.