Officers from Lahav 433's National Fraud Investigation Unit detained for questioning on Monday morning the head of a southern local authority, senior municipal officials, and businesspeople, as part of an investigation into suspected public corruption.
According to Israel Police, a covert investigation has been underway in recent months, due to suspicions that donations amounting to millions of shekels were diverted to the pockets of the local authority head and his associates.
The donations had originally been given by various sources in Israel and abroad, for the benefit of local residents amid the ongoing war. Instead, it is believed that they were funneled into a community fund and from there to the suspects' pockets.
On Monday, the investigation became public, as police raided the suspects’ homes and offices, conducting searches. The detainees were taken in for questioning at the National Fraud Investigation Unit headquarters.