Kiryat Malachi Mayor Motti Malka and six others, including the mayor’s son, were arrested Wednesday in connection with the repeated rape and sexual harassment of a city employee.
The seven suspects are also being questioned regarding alleged financial misconduct. They are suspected of taking bribes, extortion, fraud and breach of trust.
Malka and his deputy mayor are accused of repeatedly raping a female subordinate over a long period of time. A source close to the investigation told Walla News that Malka and the others “turned the woman into their sex slave.”
During a court hearing on Wednesday, a police representative said that Malka also extorted sex from a single mother in exchange for a discount on the woman’s municipal taxes (arnona), and that he accepted bribes from a contractor, who allowed the mayor to use one of his apartments for sexual encounters, according to Ynet News.
The officials were arrested after a secret investigation. At the hearing Malka’s remand was extended by eight days. There is reason to believe that rape did take place, the judge wrote in his decision.
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The covert investigation apparently began when police were tipped off about financial improprieties and sexual harassment at city hall, reported Ynet.
The Kiryat Malachi municipality (photo credit: Yossi Zeliger/Flash90)
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