Police said set to recommend charging former PM aides, ex-navy chief in sub case
Source tells Hadashot news channel alleged bribery affair ‘one of worst corruption scandals ever investigated by police’
Police are readying to conclude an investigation into an alleged bribery scheme involving Israel’s purchase of hundreds of millions of dollars of naval vessels, and will recommend indicting a former head of the navy and other top officials, according to a TV report on Monday.
Among those set to be charged in the case, Hadashot news reported, are Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cousin and former lawyer, David Shimron, former National Security Council deputy head Avriel Bar-Yosef, former navy chief Eliezer Marom, and Netanyahu’s former chief of staff, David Sharan.
A senior figure in the investigation told the news channel: “This is one the worst corruption scandals ever investigated by police, concerning bribery and fraud in Israel’s security purchases in the tens of millions of dollars,” a senior figure in the investigation told the channel.
Police are unlikely to recommend indicting Netanyahu’s former adviser and confidant Yitzhak Molcho, long considered a major suspect in the probe, the report said.
The investigation involves suspicions that state officials were paid bribes to influence a decision to purchase four patrol boats and three Dolphin-class submarines from German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp, costing a total of 2 billion euros, despite opposition to the deal by the Defense Ministry.
The specific charges each of the suspects is expected to face were not detailed, but they have been variously connected to suspicions of fraud, bribery, tax evasion, and money laundering in the case.
Netanyahu has never been named as a suspect in the case, although he was questioned about it by police in June.
A key figure in the case is Miki Ganor, a former agent for ThyssenKryupp and a former suspect, who in July 2017 signed an agreement to turn state witness.
Under the deal, Ganor reportedly agreed to serve one year in prison and pay a fine of up to NIS 10 million (some $2.7 million), in return for his cooperation in the probe.
The Times of Israel Community.