NIS 13 million found in bank account of Liberman pal

Investigators pursuing a major fraud scandal involving key members of the Yisrael Beytenu party found NIS 13 million ($3.3 million) in the bank account of a close acquaintance of party leader Avigdor Liberman, Hebrew-language media reported Sunday.

The cash turned up in the account of lobbyist Yisrael Yehoshua, who is known to be close to Liberman.

In a further development, NIS 2 million ($510,000) was found in the bank account of key suspect Deputy Interior Minister Faina Kirshenbaum, also of the Yisrael Beytenu party.

The report did not detail how the money came to be in the accounts or what role it may play in the corruption case.

Yehoshua was arrested along with dozens of other suspects in the case in a massive roundup last week that brought the year-long investigation into the spotlight.

Investigators are looking at the possibility that Yisrael Beytenu members paid fictitious wages and funds to various non-government organizations as well as individual people as part of a large kickback scheme.

Liberman, who serves as foreign minister, has not been implicated in any of the allegations.

Party leaders including Liberman have characterized the probe as a witch hunt timed to coincide with pre-election campaigning.

Deputy Police Commissioner Nissim Mor told Israel Radio Sunday the investigation was nonpolitical and that its fair and professional nature would be apparent once full details were made public at its closure.

In the meantime, he explained, the probe is still in full swing.

Investigators suspect cash was inappropriately transferred from politicians to non-government organizations and various other groups. In return, the organizations allegedly made nepotistic appointments, as well as circulating some of the money back to public officials in the form of cash payoffs and benefits.

Many of the suspects in the affair are high-level members of Liberman’s party, including Kirshenbaum, who is a key suspect in the case along with her daughter Ranit.

Thirty-two people have been arrested in the case to date, and 103 questioned. The scandal revolves around no fewer than 16 major cases, Channel 2 reported on Friday, claiming that Kirshenbaum was linked to nine or 10 of them.

Last week Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein sent a personal letter to Kirshenbaum telling her to stay away from the Interior Ministry as her presence could compromise the integrity of the investigation.