The probe into a purportedly corrupt deal worth $2 billion to purchase submarines and naval vessels from German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp, known as Case 3000, has involved top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The prosecutor's office in the German city of Bochum, which specialises in corruption cases, has initiated a preliminary investigation into the billion-dollar submarine deal with Israel, the business daily Handelsblatt reports citing industry circles. The investigation is said to have been triggered by an Israeli request for assistance to the German authorities.
According to Handelsblatt, some suspicious spending related to the armaments business has been discovered in connection with ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), the shipbuilding division of the Ruhr Group, from whom israel has ordered submarines and corvettes over recent years. The newspaper cites internal documents and reports that the shipbuilder's managers relied on respected ex-military members to handle the local operations with a flow of so-called “useful expenses” around 2005.
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The outlet points out that after current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took over government, he urged israel to change its consultant with TKMS. At Israel's suggestion, ThyssenKrupp and Miki Ganor, who belonged to Netanyahu's close…
