Ashkelon mayor indicted for bribery, fraud, breach of trust

Ashkelon Mayor Itamar Shimoni and a number of associates were indicted Tuesday morning in Tel Aviv District Court on charges of bribery, fraud, breach of trust and money laundering.

In addition to Shimoni, the Tel Aviv District Attorney’s Office also charged the mayor’s brother Ofer Shimoni, and businessmen Yoel Davidi, Moshe Ponte and lawyer Sharon Miller.

The mayor was charged with receiving bribes totaling NIS 466,000 ($124,000) and with breach of trust for accepting a further NIS 575,000 ($153,000) from unknown sources while mayor of the city. He was also charged with tax fraud.

According to the indictment Shimoni signed compensation deals totaling over NIS 1 million with two former female employees who alleged that he had sexually assaulted them. He then asked his brother Ofer and to Ponte to help him get hold of the money to pay the women.

These two advisers, with the mayor’s knowledge, allegedly turned to various people including entrepreneurs and property developers within the city to find the funds.

Police discovered various ways in which the money was allegedly given to the mayor in exchange for preferential treatment for the donors.

The mayor was also charged of having an associate, Davidi, take ownership of a local website, “Ashkelon 10,” which was highly critical of Shimoni and the council, in order to silence it.

The prosecutor also demanded that Shimoni be removed from his position as mayor and that he and all the others charged be barred from leaving the country.

Having Shimoni “continuing as mayor, within the municipality, where as part of his duties he is constantly surrounded by workers and senior managers who will testify against him in the future, when the business interests of those who gave the bribes are constantly discussed, raises an inherent concern for the recurrence of similar crimes,” the indictment stated. “The role of mayor involved countless decisions of the kind that Shimoni is accused of.”