The scheme to steal taxpayer funds allegedly involved the suspects billing Israel's Defense Ministry for telecom projects that never happened or were only partially complete.
Giltech and Uricom, two telecommunications firms in Israel, were listed as the technology companies involved in the scam, according to the Times of Israel. The identities of the IDF and officials involved in the operation have not been disclosed.
The arrests followed an extensive investigation by Israeli military police.
In October, six people working for a contractor to maintain IDF bases were arrested for receiving money from the government in exchange for tasks that were never completed, while an IDF lieutenant colonel, four majors and a non-commissioned officer are under investigation for taking bribes in exchange for looking the other way while the contractors ran off with "huge sums" of money, an October 19 Times of Israel report states.
