Patria Case - Alleged Scheme

Alleged Scheme

On 1 September 2008, the YLE's investigative program MOT stated that Patria paid 21 million euros in bribes for deals for Patria AMV IFVs for the Slovenian military. The money was said to be channelled to officials in the country's Ministry of Defence, as well as the Prime Minister Janez Janša. The program covered the ongoing criminal investigation of bribery and gross bribery by Patria officers in Egypt, Slovenia and Croatia. The accusations were said to be based on undisclosed documents which mention the initial letter J., interpreted to mean the premier Janez Janša. According to MOT, the documents were verified from multiple reliable sources. These documents were said to be published when the police investigation is completed and the case is presented to the district court. The police estimates that the investigation should be completed by the end of 2008. Furthermore, former president of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption of the Republic of Slovenia, described the bribery as "very hard to deny" in the MOT program and stated people from the government were implicated. Later he said he was only making logical conclusions and has no proof for his claims.

According to MOT, 21 million euros, out of the 278 million total in the deal, was paid in bribes. The transfer was concealed by delivering fewer vehicles and less expensive armaments and extensions than officially announced. Money was channeled to a company held by Patria's Austrian agent, Wolfgang Riedl. Riedl would then forward the money to agents, each distributing the bribes to different groups. Businessman Walter Wolf would interact with Slovenian politicians and painter Jure Cekuta with officials at the Slovenian Ministry of Defence. Riedl transferred 2.8 million to businessman Walter Wolf, but Wolf's attempt to forward the money was stopped by his bank, which informed the Austrian money laundering unit.