Israel’s police recommended on Tuesday indicting Interior Minister Aryeh Deri for fraud in yet another case of corruption inside the Israeli establishment.
Deri is suspected of fraud breach of trust obstructing court proceedings money laundering and tax offenses thought to amount to millions of shekels some of which were committed during his time in the cabinet the Times of Israel reported.
It is believed that Deri diverted hundreds of thousands of shekels in state funds to NGOs run by members of his immediate family” the Times of Israel explained.
These transactions alerted the attention of the Israel Police and the Money Laundering and Terror Finance Prohibition Authority which found alleged irregularities “in bank accounts related to Aryeh Deri and his family and pointed to significant sums of money transferred from businessmen to the Deri family”.
The investigation also focused on transactions for the sale of land owned by Deri in Givat Shaul (Lifta) west of Jerusalem and Har Shmuel (sometimes known as Har Homa) an illegal Israeli settlement south of occupied Jerusalem.
Deri is also suspected of obstructing court proceedings having spoken with one of the parties involved immediately after the interrogation despite being explicitly told not to do so.
The investigation also found sufficient evidence to charge him with perjury claiming he submitted false written declarations to the State Comptroller (which reviews government operations) about his assets and earnings according to Ynet news.
Deri – who is also head of the Shas party – is no stranger to corruption having served 22 months in prison between 2000 and 2002 after he was convicted of taking bribes worth $155000 during his term as interior minister under Benjamin Netanyahu’s government (1996-1999).
For his part Netanyahu is embroiled in three corruption cases with further cases against his wife Sara and lawyer and cousin David Shimron. Netanyahu stands accused of accepting lavish gifts from influential businessmen in return for favorable legislation and personal favors.
