Deri questioned again by police in ongoing graft case

For the second time in just over a week, Interior Minister Aryeh Deri was questioned Thursday morning as investigators continued to probe graft suspicions against the MK, police said.

The police noted that the questioning by the Lahav 433 anti-fraud unit was related to an ongoing investigation, and not any new case.

Deri last faced investigators just over a week ago on Thursday.

He is suspected of diverting hundreds of thousands of shekels in state funds to NGOs run by members of his immediate family, as well as suspected tax fraud linked to the sale of apartments to his brother.

The investigation, which is under the supervision of Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, is being conducted in cooperation with the tax authority and the anti-money laundering division of the Justice Ministry.

“Beyond this, naturally, we cannot elaborate on additional details from an ongoing investigation,” police said.

An indictment would force Deri to vacate his ministerial post.

Though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also under criminal investigation, Deri’s legal status would be different from the premier’s, even if both were indicted. Israeli law stipulates that while a prime minister can continue to hold office until convicted of a crime, a minister must leave his position following an indictment.

Deri, who leads the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, has voiced his interest in remaining interior minister in the next government.

Israel is set for elections on September 17, just five months after an April election that failed to produce a majority coalition government.

In November 2018, police recommended filing charges against Deri on suspicion of committing fraud, breach of trust, obstructing court proceedings, money laundering and tax offenses involving millions of shekels. Some of the incidents allegedly occurred while Deri was a cabinet minister.

Deri served 22 months in prison from 2000 to 2002 after he was convicted of taking bribes as interior minister in the 1990s.

He reclaimed the leadership of his Shas party shortly before the 2015 Knesset elections, replacing Eli Yishai. He returned to his Interior Ministry post in 2016, after a court ruled his prior conviction did not disqualify him from the position.

Netanyahu is a suspect in three criminal probes, in which investigators have recommended a graft indictment. Mandelblit announced in February that he intended to indict Netanyahu in all three cases, pending a hearing, expected to take place in early October. Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing.