2 senior Israel Land Authority officials, 5 others arrested in bribery probe

Two senior officials in the Israel Land Authority and five other people were arrested Wednesday morning in a corruption investigation into the alleged leaking of inside information in return for payoffs.

The detainees are suspected of bribery, fraud, breach of trust and other offenses, the Israel Police said in a statement on the investigation, which is being conducted by the Lahav 433 corruption-busting squad.

Investigators suspect that the two ILA officials accepted bribes in return for illegally providing inside information to advance the business interests of others.

Officers conducted searches of all the suspects’ home and offices, police said.

The suspects, who have not been named, were taken away for questioning and, if necessary, will be remanded at the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court later in the day, police said.

“The Israel Police will continue to investigate any improper activities involving conflicts of interest, and will dig down to reach any place where there is a suspicion of public corruption,” the police statement said.

In the past week police revealed two other major corruption investigations, one involving officials at the government-owned Israel Aerospace Industries, and another involving the Afikim bus company and a senior official in the Transportation Ministry.