Jerusalem municipal official probed for graft found dead in suspected suicide
Police open investigation after finding body of Dani Katz, 37, near his apartment building
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A local government official under investigation for graft was found dead Monday in a suspected suicide.
The man’s body was found by police near his apartment building in Jerusalem, police said.
According to the Kan public broadcaster, the remains were located after the suspect went missing for several hours.
An investigation has been opened into the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the body.
He was later named by Channel 12 news as Dani Katz, 37, an official in the Jerusalem Municipality.
According to the network, Katz left a letter to his family asking for forgiveness and denying the suspicions against him.
He was one of three suspects arrested last week on corruption suspicions, including the cancellation of parking fines in exchange for thousands of tickets to performances and events.
A 10-month covert investigation revealed suspicions that a senior official at a Jerusalem municipal utility and his assistant handed out thousands of event tickets obtained via a municipality official, trading them for various personal benefits including the cancellation of parking tickets for his associates.
On Monday, the municipal utility official was named as Zion Turgeman, chairman of the city’s Ariel event production company.
The suspects are under investigation on suspicion of fraud and breach of trust, as well as giving and receiving bribes, police said.
The Times of Israel Community.