Agriculture Ministry head named as suspect in graft probe

Police on Thursday revealed they had arrested Agriculture Ministry Director General Rami Cohen in a massive public-service corruption probe, that also netted a number of high-level political officials.

Cohen, the highest ranking non-politician arrested in a Wednesday sweep, is suspected of receiving bribes and allegedly bribing Deputy Interior Minister Faina Kirshenbaum (Yisrael Beytenu), police said.

Cohen’s remand was extended for eight additional days by the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court Thursday, along with that of two others arrested in the Wednesday sweep.

There are 31 suspects in the investigation, which centers on a group of high-level Yisrael Beytenu officials, including Kirshenbaum. Police have emphasized that party leader Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman is not a suspect.

The suspects are accused of participating in a large-scale plan to funnel public funds illegally to nonprofit organizations and local governments in exchange for bribes, the appointment of confidants and family members to paid posts, and other favors.

A year-long covert investigation “revealed a calculated method wherein the suspects and their representatives unlawfully transferred, using their powers as public officials, large sums of public funds to [various] bodies and authorities, in exchange for generous benefits for them or their associates, including appointments, payments and more,” police investigators said in a statement Wednesday.

Twenty-four suspects remain in custody after the court extended their remand on Wednesday night. Four others, including Cohen’s wife, were arrested but subsequently released by the court to house arrest.

“Cohen instructed us to agree to the extension of his remand because he believes that a more thorough investigation will show he is blameless,” Cohen’s attorney Avi Himi said Thursday.