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Foreign Ministry employee arrested for fraud
Benny Bashan, an employee at Israel's embassy in Amman arrested following undercover investigation that exposed theft of hundreds of thousands of shekels
The Rishon LeZion Magistrates' Court has cleared for publication that an employee the Foreign Ministry stationed at the Israeli embassy in Jordan, Benny Bashan, has been arrested by authorities on suspicion of theft and fraud while working at the embassy.
Bashan allegedly carried out the violations in cooperation with Jordanian citizens. The court has remanded his arrest by five days.
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An investigation was launched after a complaint was filed by the Foreign Ministry over discrepancies discovered in the Amman embassy's expenses.
Suspicion fell on Bashan, who is in Amman as a ministry employee with his partner. According to suspicions Bashan exploited his role to fraudulently obtain funds from the Foreign Ministry with the cooperation of Jordanian locals.
The fraud was allegedly committed by receiving inflated invoices for equipment ordered for the embassy. Investigators suspect that he would also present false expense statements to the embassy, transfer them to Israel and receive the funds.
Police suspect that Bashan had been committing the offenses for some time, allowing him to rake in hundreds of thousands of shekels.
Bashan was asked to return to Israel where he was arrested following an undercover investigation by the police's National Fraud Unit. Meanwhile, Jordanian police questioned a Jordanian employee at the embassy who is suspected of cooperating with Bashan.
Bashan was remanded on house arrest for 30 days.
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