Baar Yaakov Deputy Mayor and Six Others Indicted for Multi-Million Shekel Corruption

The Central District Prosecutor's Office filed an indictment on Sunday at the Central-Lod District Court against Noam Sasson, the deputy mayor of Baar Yaakov, and six other suspects on multiple corruption and integrity offenses. The investigation, led by Lahav 433, revealed abuse of authority to advance economic interests of associates. According to the indictment submitted by Attorney Elhanan Dreyfus, Sasson exploited his role as the engineering portfolio holder to manipulate renovation tenders in educational institutions to benefit his friend Giora Shabtai. The two allegedly fraudulently secured contracts exceeding one million shekels and committed money laundering offenses.

In another case, Sasson helped a childhood friend win an additional renovation tender. A serious charge involves a transportation tender worth about 20 million shekels, where Sasson and his business partner Eliyahu Daouan allegedly circumvented a conflict of interest committee decision at the Ministry of Justice. They conducted a fictitious share transfer to dissolve their partnership on paper while continuing joint ownership of land in practice.

During the investigation, Sasson reportedly confronted and threatened the council engineer over her police testimony. Sasson faces three counts of fraud and breach of trust, aggravated fraud, perjury, threats, and witness harassment. The other defendants are charged with money laundering, accepting bribe mediation, false corporate documentation, and tax offenses involving millions of shekels.