14 suspects, including a deputy mayor in the north, and "crime perpetrators," were arrested this morning (Tuesday) on suspicion of corruption, giving and taking bribes, fraud and breach of trust, bid rigging, and other offenses.
According to the suspicion, criminals teamed up with contractors in the northern region and senior municipal employees - and they worked together to advance their interests, including by distorting tenders through bribes and benefits.
After the publication, the Nahariya municipality revealed: The affair focuses on our city.
According to the police statement, "This morning, Lahav 433 detectives, together with the Tax Authority and Border Guard National Guard fighters and fighters from the 33rd Gideonim Unit, raided about 20 targets in the north, arrested and detained 18 suspects, seized luxury vehicles, a yacht and real estate assets worth millions of shekels.".
The raid was carried out "at the end of an undercover investigation, which was conducted for over a year by the Lahav 433 Economic Crime Unit, in collaboration with the Tax Authority - Haifa VAT Investigation Unit and the Yahalom Unit," during which "14 suspects were arrested for questioning this morning, including a deputy mayor in the north of the country, and 4 others were detained, on suspicion of involvement in committing serious public corruption offenses of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, bid rigging, money laundering and tax offenses.".
According to the police, "The findings of the investigation raise serious suspicion of systematic and ongoing infiltration by criminal elements into the decision-making systems in the municipality, while creating improper connections with senior officials. It is suspected that these connections led to the criminal elements taking control of central centers of power, primarily the Tenders Committee and the Planning and Building Committee.".
""This is a complex and wide-ranging investigation, in which suspicion arose that criminals joined forces with contractors in the northern region and senior municipal employees and acted together, as a well-oiled mechanism, to advance their interests, among other things, by skewing tenders through bribes and benefits.".
According to the police, "Within the framework of the connection between those involved, the suspected criminals acted to remove other contractors from the municipality's tenders, while the senior municipality employees acted to ensure their winning the tender and/or increasing construction rights, and even passed on inside information to the criminals, even before it was made public.
""In this way, criminal elements took control of the municipality's activities and did as they pleased, while pocketing millions of shekels, while at the same time, senior municipal officials exploited their public positions to accept bribes and benefits, while harming moral integrity and public trust.".
The suspects will be brought forward for a hearing on extending their detention at the Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court.
The investigation is being monitored by the Tax and Economic Prosecutor's Office, and additional arrests are expected.
The Nahariya Municipality stated: "Mayor Ronen Marli has instructed all parties and all municipal employees to cooperate fully with the investigation and law enforcement agencies. Since we do not know any further details about the ongoing investigation, at this stage we cannot comment on the issue beyond that.".
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