Thursday, June 21, 2018

Israeli Serious Problem, Con't

Meanwhile in Israel, the fraud and corruption investigation into PM Benjamin Netanyahu has now expanded to include fraud charges filed against his wife Sara.

Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was indicted on Thursday for alleged "systematic fraud" involving hundreds of thousands of shekels in connection with meal expenses incurred at the Prime Minister's Residence. 
Sara Netanyahu was charged along with Ezra Saidoff, a former deputy director general of the Prime Minister's Office. The two are charged in an indictment filed at the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court with aggravated fraudulent receiving of an item or items, fraud and breach of trust. Saidoff was also charged with falsification by a public servant. 
According to the indictment, the prime minister's wife instructed staff at the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem to order meals consumed at the residence worth a total of 350,000 shekels ($96,000) from gourmet restaurants between 2010 and 2013 in violation of rules barring the residence from ordering meals from the outside during periods when there was a cook on its staff. 
Investigators in the case gathered evidence that purportedly shows that the prime minister's wife ordered that the employment of the cook be concealed and also showed that she was aware that ordering meals from the outside for the residence when it employed a cook was a violation of the rules.

According to the indictment, Sara Netanyahu directed staff at the residence, including the chief maintenance superintendent at the time, Meni Naftali, and another employee, Meir Cohen, to hide the fact that cooks were employed in the residence "so that this won't be found out by the treasury and the office manager.
" The indictment states that in accordance with her order, Naftali passed the message on to other residence staff. The prosecution alleges that the prime minister's wife ordered that the cook be listed at the residence as a maintenance staff person. 
In July 2015, a probe was initiated after the State Comptroller's Office issued a report on the Netanyahu family households. Its findings were turned over for criminal investigation by the national fraud squad at the Israel Police.

Part of the case against Benjamin Netanyahu is that he allegedly asked his Justice Minister to spike this case against his wife, and oh yes both Netanyahus are still being investigated in Case 3000, the major corruption investigation into the Prime Minister and his wife allegedly taking bribes.  That case is still in the investigatory stage, and indictments are expected in that in the coming months.

Of course, this is basically a fraction of the graft Donald Trump and his kids are currently getting away with on a daily basis, so there's that.

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