Stas Misezhnikov is the former minister who is under investigation for receiving bribes and skewing tenders. Misezhnikov was a member of Knesset for the Yisrael Beytenu party and was minister of tourism in the previous government. Misezhnikov was detained for questioning on Tuesday by the Israel Police fraud investigation unit. Along with Misezhnikov, the police have also detained for questioning events producer Yuli Roth, an associate of the former minister, and Uzi Garty, vice president marketing at Fashion TV.
On Tuesday, Israel Police revealed that it was investigating suspicions of corruption by Misezhnikov when he was minister of tourism. The main accusation is that he fixed the results of tenders worth millions of shekels in return for bribes. He is suspected of advancing the interests of associates in various tenders for which the ministry he headed was responsible.
A State Comptroller's report released in October 2013 severely criticized the way that the Ministry of Tourism was run under Misezhnikov. In particular, deficiencies were found in the way finance was given to non-government entities. The State Comptroller found that "the ministry deviated from the rules for holding tenders and acted in contravention of instructions from the Attorney General and the guidelines of the Accountant General." He also commented that Misezhnikov should have taken care to ensure that he had no conflicts of interests.
Misezhnikov was the subject of a previous scandal in September 2012, when Channel 2 broadcast an investigative report based on the evidence of members of his security detail, alleging that, while he was a government minister, he was in the habit of frequenting strip clubs and of becoming drunk to the point of being unable to stay upright.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 18, 2014
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