Israel Police today announced that it had completed the investigation into the prime minister's residence expenses, focusing on suspicions that Sara Netanyahu, the prime minister's wife, and parties in the Prime Minister's Office had charged the public for private expenses.
In contrast to the usual practice, the police did not state in the announcement whether or not evidential grounds for putting any of the suspects on trial had been established. At the same time, it is believed that the police recommended an indictment of Sara Netanyahu for her part in the affair.
The police thereby carried out the declaration by Commissioner Roni Alsheikh that the usual practice of recommending indictments when the investigation results are given to the State Attorney's Office would not be followed. This has not been the case, however, in earlier cases during Alsheikh's term.
"At the end of the investigation, all the alleged evidence, findings, and conclusions collected by the police were given to the Jerusalem State Attorney's Office, which was informed of the investigation for purposes of making a decision about it," the police said.
The investigation began in February 2015, with the Attorney General's approval, following a severely critical report by the State Attorney focusing on a number of matters involving suspected crimes, and former Prime Minister's Office deputy director general of operations Ezra Seidoff, including fraud and breach of trust.
The investigation included the questioning under caution of Sara Netanyahu twice in the offices of the Israel Police National Fraud Unit. Seidoff and others involved were also questioned under caution.
Sara Netanyahu is suspected of fraud, breach of trust, and false registration in corporate documents. One of the suspicions is that she used taxpayers' money for private purposes, such as paying for treatment of her father and furniture that she sent from the prime minister's residence to her private home in Caesarea without authorization.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 29, 2016
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