Ex-Shas MK held on bribery suspicions freed to house arrest

The Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court on Sunday sent former Shas MK Amnon Cohen to house arrest, five days after he was arrested by police on bribe-taking suspicions.

Police last week announced that Cohen, who served in the Knesset between 1999 and 2015, was arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes from a businessman, including sexual favors, in return for advancing his business interests in parliament.

After posting bond, Cohen was ordered released to his home until December 23. The court barred him from contacting individuals connected to the investigation.

A police statement on Sunday said the investigation into Cohen for bribery, fraud and breach of trust had yielded “significant” results, facilitated in part by a piece about Cohen broadcast by Channel 2’s investigative news magazine “Uvda.”

In March, “Uvda” reported that the former Shas party member had been on the payroll of a stock market broker for 10 years, during which he received large sums of money to advance the broker’s interests in the legislature. Lawyers for the ex-MK denied the allegations at the time.

The report said that Cohen received regular payments from prominent broker and investment adviser Daniel Molkandov and in return made use of his position, including as a member of the Knesset’s Finance Committee, to remove regulatory hurdles from the stock market and from Molkandov.

Molkandov told the program the two had an agreement: When Cohen wanted money, he would text him “Can I come and water the plants?” The two would meet in an apartment in the town of Ness Ziona, south of Tel Aviv, to make the transfer.

After the two met at a 2003 cultural event, Molkandov said Cohen cultivated ties between them, repeatedly contacting him seeking meetings.

Daniel Molkandov on Channel 2’s Uvda (Channel 2 screen capture)

Molkandov also alleged that during an official parliamentary visit to Belarus in 2007, Cohen requested that he find a female escort for him.

When Molkandov was arrested in 2005 on suspicion of charging his clients rates higher than those permitted by law, Cohen allegedly pushed to improve the terms of his incarceration. Molkandov was later sentenced to 20 months in prison, and was visited by Cohen during his imprisonment.

The program aired recordings of several conversations between Cohen and Molkandov. In one such recording Molkandov discusses the money he gave the Knesset member, a claim Cohen does not appear to deny.

The ties between the two soured in late 2014 over financial disputes. Molkandov demanded then that Cohen repay his debts to him.

“Uvda” reported that Cohen’s abrupt announcement, shortly before the 2015 general election, that he was leaving political life, was brought about by pressure from top Shas officials, who had caught whiff of his illicit dealings with Molkandov. However, he was soon afterwards appointed to head The Standards Institution of Israel, which oversees product quality, a position he continues to hold.

Molkandov testified against Cohen to police in late 2015, but the allegations were not pursued.

Cohen’s lawyers denied the allegations aired on “Uvda,” saying on Channel 2 that Molkandov had attempted to blackmail the former MK and had cooked the tapes obtained by the program. “This is a manipulative man who will stop at nothing to achieve his sordid goals,” they said.

They noted that police had already reviewed Molkandov’s claims against Cohen and had found no evidence to merit an investigation. They claimed Cohen had passed a polygraph test in which he said he had never received money from Molkandov.

An independent polygraph test of Molkandov by “Uvda” found that he, too, appeared to be telling the truth.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.