MK Bitan
Photo: Motti Kimchi
Police suspect 2 contractors of bribing MK Bitan
New testimony obtained linking 2 contractors with alleged transfers of tens of thousands of shekels to MK Bitan while he was still coalition chairman; funds again suspected of having been transferred through Moshe Yosef's furniture store.
Police obtained new testimony regarding two construction contractors who allegedly transferred funds to MK David Bitan over the past few months, while he was still coalition chairman. The funds reached Bitan through his "personal banker" Moshe Yosef, according to testimony gathered by the police's Lahav 433 anti-corruption unit.
While it remained unclear which projects the funds were allegedly tied to, testimonies claimed transfers involved tens of thousands of shekels funneled to Bitan through Yosef's furniture store.
At the same time, real estate entrepreneur Dror Glazer, suspected of providing Bitan with NIS 250,000 bribe, recently provided police with key testimony as part of negotiations he is holding with them on a possible state witness agreement, which the State Attorney's Office (SAO) is as yet undecided on, and pushing for a harsher sentence.
MK Bitan is now suspected of receiving bribes from 2 building contractors (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
The initial punishment agreed to by the parties was six months of prison time and a NIS 100,000 fine.
Bitan leaving for his investigation last week (צילום: עמית הובר)
Despite police being in possession of extensive testimony provided by Yosef, Glazer's testimony could enable investigators to make headway on three fronts. Firstly, he is suspected of transferring NIS 250,000 through Yosef's furniture store to Bitan in return for his help in acquiring building permits on a south Tel Aviv project.
Furthermore, he claims he can provide testimony on officials in the Tel Aviv municipality allegedly also tied up in the affair.
Finally, Glazer claims he's able to connect Bitan with an additional construction project in central Tel Aviv, in which he was allegedly involved.
Dror Glazer is currently in talks of signing a state witness agreement (Photo: Shaul Golan)
As part of Glazer's negotiations with authorities, the former received a letter from the attorney accompanying the investigation, Liat Ben Ari, which said his statements will not be admissible against him even if no state witness agreement was signed.
Glazer concluded by providing the main points of his testimony incriminating the other suspects in the affair, but the SAO and police are interested in him receiving harsher judgment—both in terms of prison time and fines—which has delayed signing the state witness agreement.
"There are many considerations for either approach," said a law enforcement official.
A simultaneous suspicion is being investigated that the Danya Cebus and Hatzi Hinam companies funneled bribe funds to Bitan through Yosef. Danya Cebus allegedly transferred NIS 300,000 to Yosef, according to information obtained by the police, in return for a fictitious invoice, with the funds then being transferred to Bitan's account.
Police suspect the money was used to promote one of the company's projects in Rishon LeZion. Pursuant to the suspicion, Danya Cebus CEO Ronen Ginsburg was arrested.
