Current and Former Tax Authority Employees Arrested in Alleged Bribery Scheme

The Israel Tax Authority and Israel Police announced this morning (Monday) that they have moved to the overt stage of a public corruption investigation, in which several current and former Tax Authority employees were arrested, alongside the detention of additional suspects. According to the allegations, those involved abused their positions at the Tax Authority, accepted bribes, and in return worked over a period of years to enable the submission of fraudulent tax refund requests, totaling about 80 million shekels.

The investigation had recently been conducted covertly by the National Unit for Fraud Investigations (YAH"A) in Lahav 433, in cooperation with investigators from the Central Investigations Assessing Officer at the Tax Authority. According to the authorities’ statement, once the covert phase was completed, a decision was made to move to an overt investigation, which included arrests, detentions, and search operations.

As part of the operation carried out this morning, YAH"A officers, together with investigators from the Central Investigations Assessing Officer, raided the homes and offices of the suspects. After the initial investigative actions are completed, some of the suspects are expected to be brought later today before the Magistrate’s Court in Ramla, where police will request an extension of their detention.