Now permitted for publication: incumbent head of a municipal council in the south arrested on suspicion of bribery and fraud

This morning, Tuesday, large police forces raided the offices of the local authority and arrested 7 suspects, including the head of the council and his family members, on suspicion of a series of corruption and fraud offenses. Among other things, it is being investigated whether the council head facilitated the rigging of tenders and the employment of fictitious workers in the local authority.

The arrests came after a covert investigation that had been conducted in recent months by Lahav 433, in cooperation with the Southern District of the police. According to the suspicion, those involved committed bribery offenses under the table with the goal of obtaining funds fraudulently from the authority's coffers and funneling them into their private pockets.

With the transition to the overt phase of the investigation, officers from the anti-corruption unit and the Southern District, together with fighters from the Matpa unit, the National Guard, the tactical brigade of the Border Police (Magav), and fighters from the Gideoni unit (33), raided the offices of the local authority and carried out searches alongside the arrest of the suspects. The case is being managed in cooperation with the Tax Authority and the Prohibition of Money Laundering Authority, accompanied by the Economic Department of the State Attorney's Office.

In accordance with the needs of the investigation, the suspects will be brought later today to a hearing for the extension of their detention at the Magistrate's Court in Rishon LeZion.

The police stated that this is another significant governance operation in the series of actions by the Israel Police against crime and criminals in the Bedouin sector in the Negev, who are trying to turn official law enforcement authorities into criminal strongholds and a platform for criminal activities.