Police Arrest 17 in Central Israel Municipal Bribery Investigation

Police arrested 17 suspects and detained seven others for questioning Monday morning in a bribery investigation involving a large municipal authority in central Israel. The suspects include the authority's head, his wife, its economic-company chief executive and businesspeople. Lahav 433's National Fraud Investigation Unit suspects that bribes, mainly in cash, were paid to steer high-value tenders toward the payers, alongside suspected fraud, breach of trust, money laundering and tax offenses. The covert investigation lasted more than a year; searches of offices and businesses seized money and property, and the State Attorney's Office Economic Department is accompanying the case.