The Israel Police raided the Tel Aviv municipality yesterday and today and detained for questioning several senior officials, as well as businessmen and real estate developers in a new corruption affair. Hopes that the parking lot corruption scandal at the municipality was a one-off affair appear to have dashed.
The suspects are alleged to have taken and received bribes, aggravated fraudulent receiving, fraud, breach of trust, money laundering, and tax evasion. Yesterday, the police arrested businessman Yair Zabari, who is a candidate for the Tel Aviv municipal council in the upcoming local authority elections on the People of the City list, which he founded.
The People of the City's candidate for Tel Aviv mayor is IDF Maj.-Gen. (res.) Oren Shachor. Zabari is best known for developing the safari park at the Ganei Yehoshua exhibition grounds. He will be brought before the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court today for remand.
The police also detained ten other men, including the director of the municipal building licensing and supervision division, who was also detained in the parking lots affair on suspicion of accepting bribes from Reuven Gross. The police are conducting searches at the suspects' offices in the Tel Aviv municipality, businesses, and homes.
The investigation began undercover several months ago. It broke into the open yesterday with the arrests and searches.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 22, 2008
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