Deri questioned again in graft probe, this time without wife

Interior Minister Aryeh Deri faced a third round of police questioning Wednesday as part of an ongoing corruption investigation into a range of fraud charges against him. The interrogation was the first time the minister was questioned alone as part of the current probe, and not alongside his wife Yaffa, who is also a suspect.

Deri is under suspicion of money laundering, fraud and breach of trust, theft by an authorized person, fraudulent registration, and tax offenses, according to police. Yaffa Deri is also suspected of various financial crimes, including tax evasion and using money donated to her nonprofit organization to purchase real estate.

Both have been questioned under caution as criminal suspects.

Wednesday’s questioning, which began at 10 a.m. and was expected to continue well into the afternoon, comes a week after the Deris faced a six-hour grilling and two weeks after their first interrogation, which lasted a marathon 11 hours.

Being questioned alone signals that the investigation is now focusing on specific actions carried out by Deri in his roles as chairman of the Shas party and as interior minister, a Justice Ministry source told The Times of Israel.

Police are fairly confident of an indictment against Deri for receiving money illegally but at the same time have quietly dropped any mention of bribery charges and are focusing on other suspected crimes, according to Hebrew media sources. Police say they expect the investigation to continue for several more months.

Speaking last week at an informal meet-the-public legal event held in Jerusalem, State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan promised the police probe “will been seen through until the end.”

Deri, who served a prison sentence for graft offenses that took place during his previous tenure as interior minister in the 1990s, has sought to downplay the allegations and said he would cooperate fully with the investigation to prove his innocence.

In addition to questioning the Deris, police have detained 14 people in connection with the graft probe. Among those questioned were Israeli-Georgian businessman and philanthropist Mikhael Mirilashvili along with several senior officials from the Ministry for the Development of the Negev and the Galilee, also headed by Deri.

The investigation into Deri, which police began in April 2016 together with the Tax Authority, initially focused on unreported real estate property owned by Deri and members of his family, including a vacation home in northern Israel and apartments owned by each of his nine children.

At the center of the probe is Mifalot Simcha, the nonprofit organization run by Yaffa Deri for the past 18 years. Mifalot Simcha operates educational institutions for female students and according to reports, also employs three of the couple’s daughters.

When he was appointed interior minister, Deri’s declaration of capital included property whose value was estimated at NIS 5 million ($1.32 million). That included his apartment in Har Nof, Jerusalem, valued at NIS 4.7 million ($1.24 million), NIS 10,000 in savings ($2,645), a stock portfolio worth NIS 300,000 ($79,350) and a NIS 60,000 ($15,870) car registered in the name of his wife.

Reports say Deri had made some NIS 2 million ($530,000) from consultancy, following his release from jail.

Deri served 22 months in prison from 2000 to 2002, after he was convicted of taking bribes while serving as interior minister.

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

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.