A mayor and his municipality’s director-general were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of bribery, fraud, breach of trust, money laundering, false registration of documents and tax offenses, police said.
Police did not name the mayor or the area of the country the municipality was located in.
Two businesspeople linked to the mayor were also arrested following an investigation by Lahav 433, the police anti-corruption unit.
Police began their investigation after the 2018 municipal elections, with suspicions that hundreds of thousands of shekels had been transferred to the mayor at the time in the form of campaign funds.
In exchange, the mayor is alleged to have agreed to provide economic favors to the donors in the wake of his election victory.
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Police said the group would appear at the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court later on Wednesday for a hearing on their detention.
“Israel Police will continue to act anywhere suspicions of corruption arise which harm the functioning of government, and conduct an investigation with the aim of uncovering any improper processes to reach the truth and bring perpetrators to justice,” a police statement said.
The unnamed mayor joins a growing list of municipal officials suspected of involvement in corruption scandals in recent months.
In July, Petah Tikva Mayor Rami Greenberg was detained on suspicions of corruption.
Petah Tikva mayor Rami Greenberg on December 5 2017. Greenberg was detained in July 2022 on suspicions of corruption (Rami Greenberg/ Wikipedia CC-BY-4.0)
According to the allegations, Greenberg had withheld municipal funding from institutes that were entitled to it unless they fired or ousted his opponents and their family members from key positions.
Greenberg denied the allegations against him and railed against “intrigues” and “hatred” in the public service he claimed had led unidentified individuals to attempt to topple him.
In January, Or Akiva Mayor Yaakov Edri was told by prosecutors they were considering indicting him on a string of corruption charges, including bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. Police had recommended last year that he be charged.
Also in January, an oversight committee suspended Hadera Mayor Zvi Gendelman for six months after he was indicted last October on corruption charges.
