The Tel Aviv District Prosecutor's Office (taxation and economics) has submitted an indictment to the Tel Aviv District Court against Ashkelon Mayor Itamar Shimoni; Ofer Shimoni, his brother; businessmen Yoel Davidi and Moshe Ponte; and Adv. Sharon Miller for bribery, fraud and breach of trust, tax violations, and money laundering. The indictment was filed with the approval of State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan.
Itamar Shimoni is accused of taking a NIS 466,000 bribe, and of breach of trust for accepting an additional NIS 575,000 because he was the mayor, mostly from unknown sources, while concealing this from the public, without clarifying the source of the money, and of tax violations.
The open investigation of the affair began in January 2016 with the arrest of Shimoni and other suspects. Ashkelon municipal officeholders, associates, contractors, and developers were questioned under caution in the investigation, and dozens of witnesses gave testimony. Searches of the suspects' homes and offices were conducted, including at the municipality. Documents and computers were seized, and property and accounts were taken for the submitting of a confiscation request.
According to the indictment, Mayor Shimoni received letters in 2014 from two women who alleged that he had sexually assaulted them. Following negotiations, the mayor signed two different compensation agreements on two occasions with the women. The agreements required him to pay the women over NIS 1 million. Itamar Shimoni asked his brother and Ponte, his right hand and confidant, to help him raise the money to get him out of trouble. Ponte and Ofer Shimoni agreed to help him, and with his knowledge raised the money from various sources, including various developers and contractors working in Ashkelon who gave them the money for the mayor.
The first two counts of the indictment describe how Itamar Shimoni received a NIS 466,000 bribe from businessmen Yoel Davidi and Gabi Magnezi, who worked together in real estate, to do favors for them. The gift from Davidi was concealed, among other things, through a false marketing agreement and false invoices. In exchange, Itamar Shimoni acted, both directly and through others, on behalf of decisions favorable to Davidi and Magnezi.
According to the first count, Itamar Shimoni and Davidi had a corrupt give and take agreement involving a number of favors. Davidi and Ofer Shimoni used a brokerage business owned by Ofer Shimoni to transfer a NIS 366,000 bribe camouflaged as a brokerage fee, with the mayor's knowledge. Ofer Shimoni gave NIS 177,000 of this money to his brother to pay for the compensation agreement with the two women. As part of these give and take relations, with the knowledge of Itamar Shimoni, Davidi acquired ownership of the Ashkelon 10 website, while knowing that it was not a profitable deal for him. The website had severely criticized Itamar Shimoni and the municipality, but as soon as he acquired it, Davidi shut it down, also with Itamar Shimoni's knowledge. In exchange for Davidi's actions, Itamar Shimoni acted, both directly and through others, to promote Davidi's interests in Ashkelon. Among other things, he helped him obtain building permits for various real estate projects in the city, various approvals for his business, and took action to influence the allocation of the Ashkelon municipality's advertising space in favor of Davidi, who owned a local newspaper. The Shimoni brothers are accused of taking bribes and money laundering, while Davidi is accused of giving a bribe and money laundering.
Promotion of business interests
In the second count, Itamar Shimoni is accused of taking a NIS 100,000 bribe in May 2015 through Ponte from Magnezi, who has interests in Ashkelon. Itamar Shimoni also used this money to pay for the compensation agreement with the two women. In exchange for the money he received, the mayor acted, both directly and through others, to promote Magnezi's interests in the city. This count accuses Itamar Shimoni and Ponte of accepting a bribe and brokering a bribe, and of money laundering.
The third count alleges that as part of raising money to pay for the compensation agreement, Ponte asked Miller, who had business interests in Ashkelon, to give him money for Itamar Shimoni. Miller gave Ponte NIS 75,000, which was used for the compensation agreement. Two months after receiving the money, Ponte and Miller drew up a false loan agreement which purported to be drawn up and signed a day before the bank transfer. Ponte is accused of brokering a bribe and money laundering, and Miller is accused of bribing the broker and money laundering.
The fourth count accuses Itamar Shimoni and Ponte of breach of trust. The count alleges that in addition to a NIS 466,000 bribe received by Itamar Shimoni from Davidi and Magnezi, he received over NIS 575,000 through Ponte, mostly from unknown sources, to pay for the compensation agreement. The indictment alleges that Itamar Shimoni received this money, given to him as a public servant, on short notice, without clarifying its source and while concealing it from the public, thereby breaching the trust of his voters and the city's residents. Shimoni accepted the money even though he knew that as mayor of Ashkelon, he would have to make decisions about the affairs of the people who gave the money, thereby involving him in a conflict of interest.
The fifth count concerns tax violations by Itamar Shimoni and Davidi for failing to report the income from their crimes and the records they concocted to the tax authorities.
Keeping Shimoni away from centers of power
Together with the indictment, the Tel Aviv District Prosecutor's Office (taxation and economics) asked the Court to bar Itamar Shimoni from continuing his duties as mayor of Ashkelon, to impose bail on the accused, and to bar them from leaving Israel. The request stated, "Continuing his function as mayor within the municipality, where he is constantly in the proximity of municipal workers and city managers, who be called upon to testify against him, while the business affairs of the parties who gave bribes are constantly being discussed in the municipality, arouses inherent concern about similar offenses. The position of mayor involves innumerable decisions of the type for which Shimon is being accused. In view of the powerful evidence and the picture arising from it of his cunning actions in these offenses, he should be kept away from the centers of power that make these offenses possible."
The case is being conducted by Advocates Yaron Golomb, Keren Zviran-Letzner, Hila Gabay, and Uri Preisman from the Tel Aviv State Prosecutor's Office (taxation and economics).
The Israel Police conducted the investigation in cooperation with the central district investigative tax assessor and the Israel Money Laundering and Terror Financing Prohibition Authority, with the help of the State Prosecutor's Office.
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on February 7, 2017
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