IDF lieutenant colonel suspended as fraud probe comes to a head

An IDF lieutenant colonel suspected of involvement in an embezzlement scheme was suspended for two weeks on Thursday, with the potential for further disciplinary measures should the allegations against him prove accurate, the army said.

Over the past week, police have detained more than a dozen people, including six career soldiers, suspected of taking part in the fraud.

The civilian suspects are employees of a company that provides maintenance services to army bases. They are believed to have embezzled “huge sums” by charging the army for work they never actually completed, police said.

Meanwhile, the IDF personnel — the lieutenant colonel, four majors and a senior non-commissioned officer — are suspected of looking the other way in exchange for bribes.

On Thursday, the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court allowed the police to keep two of the IDF personnel and four of the civilians in custody. One suspect was placed under house arrest earlier in the week, while the rest were released.

The names of the suspects and the company were placed under a court-issued gag order and cannot be reported. The court is expected to reconvene in order to discuss the gag order on Sunday.

According to the police, the crimes are believed to have occurred over the course of several years.

In a statement, the army said that two years ago the Military Police’s investigative branch, known by its Hebrew acronym Metzach, suspected wrongdoing by the company during the years 2012 and 2013.

As the suspects were primarily from a civilian outfit, the Military Police turned the case over to the Israel Police’s Lahav 433 anti-fraud unit and and its anti-organized crime unit, known by its Hebrew acronym Yahbal.

Police investigators worked on the case for more than year before they amassed sufficient evidence to detain the suspects.

A police spokesperson, however, said that it was “too early to talk about an indictment.”

On Monday, they detained — but did not formally arrest — 12 suspects and picked up two more on Wednesday.

In light of the allegations, the chief of staff of the IDF’s Northern Command suspended the lieutenant colonel on Thursday for at least two weeks.

“The treatment of the others involved will come in accordance with developments in the investigation, and additional administrative [punitive] measures are expected,” the army said in a statement.

The army added that if the allegations against the suspects are found to be accurate, they will face not only legal ramifications, but also administrative ones, like the stripping of rank.

“The IDF denounces forbidden incidents like the kind being investigated in this case,” the army said in its statement.

Earlier in the day on Thursday, the Defense Ministry announced it was freezing all contact with the civilian suspects’ company.

A committee led by the ministry’s director-general, Brig. Gen. (res.) Roni Moreno, decided to “freeze all new contact with the company, suspend new tenders, and stop all money transfers to the company,” according to a ministry statement.

“In accordance with developments in the investigation, the committee will return and meet in order to determine the status of the company as a vendor and its relationship with the Defense Ministry,” the statement said.

The ministry said this was common practice in cases where there is “any question whatsoever” of criminal wrongdoing by employees, managers or owners of recognized vendors.

The company’s offices were also searched on Monday, with police seizing computers and documents.