_a.jpg "צילום: ירון ברנר")
Illicit funds (Illustration)
צילום: ירון ברנר
Suspicion: Bat Yam residents embezzled from discharged soldiers' fund
Police arrest two men suspected of illicitly withdrawing hundreds of thousands of shekels from Defense Ministry's Fund, Discharged Soldiers Guidance Unit by using fake stamps, forged application forms
The Tel Aviv District Police's Fraud Unit arrested Monday two Bat Yam residents suspected of embezzling hundreds of thousands of shekels from the Defense Ministry's Fund and Discharged Soldiers' Guidance Unit.
Police are expected to ask the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court to remand the suspects, aged 36 and 31, to custody.
The Unit filed an official complaint according to which hundreds of thousands of shekels in funds earmarked for discharged soldiers were illegally withdrawn from the department's bank accounts.
According to the complaint, the suspects used stolen stamps and forged application forms asking for financial assistance to enroll in an institution that helps ex-soldiers complete their matriculation exams.
A search of the suspects' homes found stamps lifted from the institution, as well as enrollment forms and Education Ministry documentation needed in order to receive the grants.
The fund fell victim to a number of similar acts of fraud over the past year. Five months ago two brothers in their 20s were arrested on suspicion of embezzling more than NIS 500,000 (about $138,000) from the fund, and a few months prior to that incident additional funds estimated at around NIS 1 million were illicitly withdrawn from the fund after the perpetrators got their hands on discharged soldier's ID numbers.
