The lawyer for the rabbi Avraham Yosef, attorney Navot Tel-Tzur, criticizes the police's announcement yesterday that it recommended that the prosecutor's office prosecute him on suspicion of committing crimes of extortion through threats, fraud, and breach of trust. "There is no place for publishing 'police recommendations,' since this is at an early stage when the evidence has not yet been examined by the prosecutor's office," the lawyer told Israel Hayom.
According to Tel-Tzur, "Rabbi Yosef respected the investigation and firmly rejected the allegations made against him. The rabbi acted lawfully, in good faith and with transparency, and he is confident that when the matters are examined by the prosecutor's office, it will be made clear that there was no flaw in his actions.".
The rabbi's associates were not particularly excited by the developments. The associates told Israel Hayom: "The rabbi is calm. He tells everyone around him that he will be fine. We know that the police have launched an investigation with great force, so they cannot say that there is no indictment.".
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The investigation against the rabbi of Holon was opened in 2012, following materials that were transferred to the Attorney General from the State Comptroller's Office and after their review by the State Attorney's Office.
During the investigation, numerous messages were collected, various involved parties were questioned under caution, and relevant documents were seized.
It is suspected that, in his role as the rabbi of the city of Holon and even while serving as the supervisor of kashrut in the Or Yehuda municipality, Rabbi Avraham Yosef instituted an improper policy in the field of kashrut certificates, according to which business owners who desired 'Mehadrin' type kosher certificates were forced to purchase meat and food products that were under the supervision of the 'Beit Yosef' Kosher Department - both by threatening to deny eligibility for a Mehadrin kosher certificate and by failing to provide suitable alternatives, contrary to the instructions of the Chief Rabbinate.
