The evidentiary stage in the case of The State of Israel Vs.
Abraham Hirchson, began on Sunday, at the Tel Aviv District Court.
The former finance minister was indicted on
multiple counts of theft, fraud, breach of trust, fraudulently obtaining funds, money laundering and falsifying corporate documents in April, for allegedly embezzling about NIS 4 million (over $1.2 million) during his tenure as head of the National Labor Federation (NLF), between 1998 and 2005.
| Legal Beat |
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| State strikes second deal in Hirchson case / Yoram Yarkoni |
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Former finance minister's trial begins at Tel Aviv District Court as prosecution pleads out former National Labor Federation financial chief in exchange for testimony against Hirchson |
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The State's offered into evidence the testimony of Shalomo Aroes, a NLF courier, who claims to be the one who deposited cash payments and checks in Hirchson's account.
Aroes testified that he was sent to make the deposits by Ovadia Cohen, the former NLF treasurer. Cohen himself struck a deal with the State Prosecutor's Office, and is expected to testify against Hirchson at a later date.
The courier further claimed he used to arrive at Hirchson's Ramat Aviv house and leave envelopes with the maid. Aroes told the court he was unaware of the fact that the envelopes contained cash, since he was only told they had to be delivered to Hirchson urgently.
Aroes was the second person to testify in Hirchson's trail. Ronit Garti, a former accountant with the National Labor Federation, who also struck a deal with
the State Prosecutor's Office, took the stand on Thursday.
According to her testimony, she was asked to prepare cash envelopes containing about NIS 35,000 ($10,000) every month, for a man her superior simply called "the boss."
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