BREAKING NEWS

Comptroller slams nepotism, corruption in Nat’l Transport Co., Dan bus co.

State Comptroller Joseph Shapira on Wednesday published dual reports slamming alleged nepotism and corruption by the National Transport Infrastructure Company of Israel (NTICI) and the Dan Bus Company as part of his office’s ongoing battle for greater purity in the public sphere.
 
The reports note a range of “severe” defects, including defective management, improper appointments of persons with personal connections to managers, improper financing of flights out of the country and other conflicts of interest.
 
Regarding NTICI, the report said that former CEO Shai Baras had improperly appointed a NTICI employee he had been personally close with to be an outside adviser and evaluator on a committee which approved extraordinary requests by developers.
 
The appointment was made at the same time that the person was given financial advice and opinions to some of those same developers, and he was paid NIS 3.5 million for less than 1.5 years of work – far above what the comptroller viewed as reasonable.