Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit is considering closing a corruption probe into Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, Channel 13 news reports.
According to the network, some of the Mandelblit’s associates believe there are problems with the evidence in the case against Deri and the attorney general has ordered prosecutors to complete further investigatory work in the case.
Police have recommended Deri, who heads the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, face charges for fraud, breach of trust, obstructing court proceedings, money laundering, and tax offenses.
He is suspected of diverting hundreds of thousands of shekels in state funds to NGOs run by members of his immediate family, as well as suspected tax fraud linked to the sale of apartments to his brother.
Deri served 22 months in prison from 2000 to 2002 after he was convicted of taking bribes as interior minister in the 1990s.
Shas party chairman Interior Minister Aryeh Deri addresses supporters at the Shas party event for the Jewish new year in Jerusalem on September 24, 2019. (Flash90)
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