Former coalition whip grilled for 7 hours in bribery probe

Likud MK David Bitan, the former coalition whip, was questioned by police Monday as part of an ongoing investigation into suspicions he took hundreds of thousands of shekels in bribes, some of which were handed over after he became a member of Knesset.

It was Bitan’s eighth interview about the case and he cooperated with investigators, according to Hadashot TV news.

In all but the first of his previous investigations Bitan refused to answer questions, after he was denied the option to confront the main witnesses against him, the report said.

The questioning at the Lahav 433 national fraud squad headquarters in Lod went on for seven hours, during which time Bitan was able to confront one of the key figures in the case, Channel 10 news reported.

In April, the TV  station said police were planning to recommend indicting the lawmaker.

Bitan, who stepped down as whip after it was revealed he was being investigated, but remains a Knesset member, is also likely to be charged with money laundering and tax offenses, the news site said at the time.

The lawmaker is suspected of receiving the money, both while serving as deputy mayor of Rishon Lezion and later, as a member of parliament, from his business associate Moshe Yosef and from businessman Dror Glazer, who have both testified against Bitan.

Investigators reportedly hold specific information on how the suspected bribes and money transfers were handled, in light of the testimony from Yosef, who owns a furniture store where police suspect the bribes were given to Bitan.

Bitan was confronted with Yosef’s testimony during an interrogation on January 28.

In a major development, Yosef reportedly gave detailed testimony, telling investigators that the bribes were frequent, including during the past five years. Yosef told investigators that he had delivered hundreds of thousands of shekels to Bitan during visits the Likud lawmaker made to Yosef’s Metzada store.

The investigation, dubbed Case 1803, has seen the arrests of a number of suspects in addition to Zur, including other city officials, local businessmen, and organized crime figures. Bitan maintains he is innocent of any wrongdoing.