Dan Cohen, charged with taking bribes while serving as Israel Electric Company official, to face trial in Israel after fleeing in 2005.
By JPOST.COM STAFFDan Cohen 370(photo credit: Reuters)
The Justice Ministry confirmed on Saturday that Peru has agreed to a request to extradite former district court judge Dan Cohen to Israel where he will be tried on charges of bribe-taking, fraud, breach of trust, causing misleading information to be included in financial reports and obstruction of justice.Cohen fled from Israel in 2005 in the midst of an investigation into allegations that he illegally used his influence with the Israel Electric Company, where he served as a member of the directorate, to aid several corporations. He allegedly received millions of dollars worth of bribes from the corporations Siemens and Rogozin.Cohen had already boarded a plane and was en route to Israel, the Justice Ministry stated on Saturday evening. Cohen will be arrested upon his arrival in Israel and the State Attorney's Office will request that he remain in custody for the duration of legal proceedings against him.Peru, which does not have an extradition agreement with Israel, had previously denied Israeli requests to extradite the former judge. Peru's Supreme Court had ordered that Cohen be extradited, but the government had refused to carry out the order.
