Police reportedly release the mayor of a southern city to five days of house arrest after detaining him, as well as other municipal officials and businessmen for questioning on suspicions of corruption this morning.
The politician and his associates are suspected of pocketing tens of millions of shekels’ worth of wartime donations meant for residents’ welfare.
The mayor is released subject to limitations, including a week-long ban on him setting foot in his municipality’s offices or contacting others involved in the case, Hebrew outlets report.
The other suspects — including four businessmen, two municipal department heads, the mayor’s chauffeur and two of his aides — were also released on restrictive conditions, according to Haaretz.
Detectives in the police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit conducted a months-long covert investigation into the alleged corruption and went public with the case this morning, after raiding suspects’ workplaces and homes. The name of the city is not made public.
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