Israeli police are investigating criminal allegations against Israeli coalition chairman and Likud party Knesset member David Bitan Haaretz stated on Tuesday.
Israeli police fraud investigation unit has taken witness statements and reviewed evidence against Bitan stemming from his time as deputy mayor of Rishon Letzion between 2005 and 2015. The investigation was approved in advance by Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit and State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan.
Police have also interviewed senior municipal officials in Rishon Letzion. Bitan was a deputy mayor of the Tel Aviv suburb before he was elected to the Knesset in the March 2015 general election.
He is accused of accepting money from unidentified businessmen during his tenure at Rishon Letzion municipality.
Before he became an MK Bitan had a strong presence in Rishon Letzion. He was elected to the city council in 1988 and appointed deputy mayor in 2005. From 2008 to 2010 and then again from 2013 he chaired the local zoning board and held the city’s engineering portfolio.
During this period Bitan also went into debt and took out loans. Debt collection proceedings were brought against him.
