Deri to be questioned on corruption allegations — report

Interior Minister Aryeh Deri and his wife Yaffa are to be questioned in the next few days over suspicions of corruption related to property deals and tax offenses, Israel Hayom reported on Friday.

Last year, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit authorized the National Fraud Investigation Unit to launch a criminal investigation into the dealings of the leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party.

The details of the investigation are under gag order, but it apparently centers around 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.

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

A spokesman for the minister said, “The interior minister said from the first moment that he would cooperate fully and would answer any questions. Minister Deri relies on the law enforcement authorities to do their work in a responsible and proper manner.”

In the past few weeks the investigation has drawn near to its final stage, after police gathered evidence which they will now present to Deri and his wife during their interrogation.

Last year, after the criminal probe was announced, Deri made light of it.

“Yesterday I found out that my wife and I have become real estate moguls,” he said sarcastically, according to Channel 2. “We have had an apartment for about 25 years, in which we raised nine children and for which we are still paying the mortgage. In addition, we have a vacation home in Safsufa for the extended family, including the grandchildren.”

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 Yaffa.

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

A year ago Deri’s brother Shlomo was also questioned by police as part of the same investigation. He dismissed any allegations of wrongdoing, claiming that the media was targeting his brother because of his success.

“As I said, Aryeh is a talented guy with a clear agenda that draws fire and gossip,” Shlomo said. “They take something small like the house in Safsufa and blow it up. I saw that a senior editor at The Marker [financial daily] wrote that the thing has to be seen in proportion. The luxury villa in Safsufa is the equivalent of a crappy apartment in Tel Aviv. There were people who asked me if building the house in Safsufa was intended to win Arab votes.”

Last June investigators turned to German police for help with the inquiry.

The request pertained to details of a real-estate deal between Shlomo Deri and Austrian Jewish businessman James Schlaff, Channel 10 News reported at the time. Schlaff is the brother of Martin Schlaff, who was in the past suspected of bribing late prime minister Ariel Sharon.

Deri served 22 months in prison from 2000 to 2002 after he was convicted of taking bribes while serving as interior minister, and returned to politics earlier this decade to lead the ultra-Orthodox party in the Knesset.

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