CEO of construction firm arrested in Bitan affair
Court extends remand by six days of Danya Cebus Ltd. boss Ronen Ginsburg, who is suspected of laundering money and of tax offences in graft affair involving MK David Bitan.
Ginsburg is suspected of laundering money and of tax offences. The Rishon Magistrate's court extended his remand by six days.
Businessman Moshe Yosef, a close associate of Bitan, is also scheduled to provide more testimony at the police's Lahav 433 anti-corruption unit in Lod after spending ten hours there in another intense round of questioning on Tuesday.
Africa Israel Investments Ltd., an international holding and investment company based in Israel, sent a statement to the Israeli stock exchange saying: “To the best of its knowledge, a police investigation regarding projects/s involving Danya Cebus Ltd. is being conducted in Rishon LeZion.”
Police investigators raided the offices of Danya Cebus Ltd. and appropriated documents as part of the investigation involving Bitan, the former coalition chairman, after it was cleared for publication Tuesday that the company, along with Hatzi Hinam supermarket chain, were suspected of giving Bitan financial bribes amounting to hundreds of thousands of shekels.
Among other things, police is looking into suspicions that NIS 300,000 from Danya Cebus were laundered through Yosef's furniture shop and eventually reached Bitan.
After it found its name in the headlines, Danya Cebus Ltd. issued a statement promising to "cooperate fully with the police's investigation and provide any information requested."
On Tuesday, Moshe Yosef, who has been dubbed Bitan’s "banker," provided testimony in a ten-hour grilling, where he answered all questions and is believed to have divulged dirt about the two companies that funnelled the money which was laundered through a furniture store he owned. Yosef is also believed to have issued the companies with fictitious invoices.
Rishon LeZion Mayor Dov Zur was also among the 17 people detained for questioning at the beginning of December in the corruption scandal. Bitan served in the past as Zur's deputy.
On Wednesday, Zur was ordered to stay away from the the Rishon LeZion Municipality for another 25 days. Taking extra precaution, the courts also instructed his deputies—Yossi Hamami and Eyal Moshayov—to refrain from entering the municipality premises for a similar period of time.
