The complaint of Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) against a senior official of taking subcontractors' bribes, has prompted a police investigation, the local newspaper Haaretz daily reported.

Authorities said Yaakov Gutmacher, 63, a 41-year veteran of the country's sole electric utility, is suspected of 200 instances of taking bribes over the years, the daily said.

Gutmacher's role placed him at "a delicate intersection" of suppliers, big money and scant oversight, the IEC told the Haifa District Labor Court.

Gutmacher, for his part, told the court that the probe was intended to justify a deal between the IEC and a supplier, Hashmal Hatzafon.

Meanwhile, State Comptroller Joseph Shapira last month charged the IEC with illegally handing over billions of shekels to employees in salary benefits, which contributed to the firm's almost NIS 70 billion (17.8 billion U.S. dollars) debt.

Analysts warn that the debt load, the largest besides the state itself, and independent firms which will enter the local market in 2013, could be the death blow for the IEC, according to the Globes business daily.