After a decade-long investigation, State Attorney Moshe Lador on Thursday announced that the case against Gilad Sharon for allegedly mediating bribes on behalf of his father, former prime minister Ariel Sharon, would be closed.
The public prosecution said it would divulge the reasons for dropping the case next week.
Sharon had been suspected of brokering the transfer of millions of dollars from Cyril Kern, a British-born, South Africa-based businessman, and transferring them to his father.
For a time, Ariel Sharon was the primary suspect in the case, but charges against him were dropped in August 2012 due to the fact that he has been in a coma since 2006, and can’t give testimony or stand trial.
Lador’s announcement came in response to a petition, submitted by Gilad Sharon to the High Court of Justice in November, in which Sharon demanded an explanation as to why no decision had been reached in his case.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the
terms
Police suspected that money was transferred to the prime minister through his two sons, Gilad and Omri, in an arrangement that went on for years, from 2001 until 2005.
Austrian casino magnate Martin Schlaff, who had financial interests in Israel at the time, was also believed to have been involved. Police said more than $4.5 million was transferred in 2004 alone.
Aaron Kalman contributed to this report.
We can't do this work alone.
The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident – ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded – I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.
There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.
As a Times of Israel reporter, I’m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit’s. But my colleagues and I can't do this alone. If you value work like this, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.
— Stav Levaton, military reporter
Yes, I'll join
Yes, I'll join
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
