Interior Minister Aryeh Deri was questioned Thursday morning by police investigators as part of an ongoing corruption probe, police say.
In November, police recommended filing charges against Deri on suspicion of committing fraud, breach of trust, obstructing court proceedings, money laundering and tax offenses involving millions of shekels. Some of the incidents allegedly occurred while Deri was a cabinet minister.
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, who heads the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, would have to resign his ministerial post if prosecutors press charges. He already served 22 months in prison from 2000 to 2002, after he was convicted of taking bribes as interior minister in the 1990s.
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri leads a Shas faction meeting at the Knesset on May 27, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
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