Two senior Foreign Ministry employees were arrested Monday for allegedly embezzling hundreds of thousands of shekels from the government office, and more are under scrutiny.
After a months-long investigation, detectives from the National Fraud Unit arrested a 58-year-old longtime department head on suspicion of using department funds to buy meat, home appliances and alcohol and claiming that they were work expenses, according to Haaretz. He also allegedly stayed with his family at a hotel in the north when he claimed that he was hosting foreign officials.
The second suspect was a senior employee in the finance division and a friend of the department head, according to police. He allegedly authorized all of the charges even though he knew that they were actually personal expenses.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said that it initiated an internal investigation several months ago following complaints from other employees. After examining the claims and collecting evidence, the ministry transferred the case to the police and has been cooperating fully with the probe.
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