Mayor suspected of pocketing millions in donations named as Ashkelon’s Tomer Glam
City leader released to house arrest as police probe suspicions of bribery, fraud, theft and money laundering in connection to wartime donations that were allegedly misappropriated
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Ashkelon Mayor Tomer Glam was named on Wednesday as the mayor who is suspected by police of pocketing wartime donations for himself and his associates.
Police announced on Monday that the mayor of a major city in Israel’s south was detained alongside local officials and businessmen suspected of involvement in the alleged corruption. He was later released to house arrest.
Glam was ordered by the court to stay away from the Ashkelon Municipality building for at least a week.
According to police, millions of shekels donated to the municipality for the good of residents amid the two-year war against Hamas in Gaza and the war last year with Iran were transferred to a community fund and from there, allegedly “found their way into the private pockets of the mayor and his associates.”
The Kan public broadcaster reported that a relative of Glam as well as three other associates have also been detained as part of the probe. Glam was interrogated by the Lahav 433 investigative police unit on suspicion of bribery, fraud, theft and money laundering, the news outlet reported.
According to the Haaretz newspaper, the mayor and senior municipality officials demanded that the funds be transferred to private businesses in the city, and the businesses allegedly passed on the funds or other benefits to the mayor and the officials.
Detectives in the police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit had been conducting a covert investigation into the alleged corruption for months before searching suspects’ homes and offices on Monday morning.
The Ynet news outlet reported that Glam was detained this week at a hotel in Eilat, where he was speaking at a conference of local treasurers. He reportedly said in a speech at the conference, just before he was arrested: “My mother always told me, ‘When the money is yours, do what you want with it. With public funds, act with great responsibility.'”
Ashkelon, located on the coast close to the northern Gaza Strip, is one of the largest cities in Israel’s south. Glam, a member of the Likud party, has served as mayor of the city since 2017.
The Times of Israel Community.