Israeli Deputy Mayor Faces Corruption Charges Over Multi-Million Shekel Tender Scandal

Noam Sasson, the current deputy mayor of Be'er Ya'akov, along with six other defendants including contractors and a friend, has been indicted for a corruption scandal involving multi-million shekel tenders. The indictment, filed by the Central District Prosecutor's Office, accuses Sasson of severe conflict of interest, fraud, and breach of trust between 2019 and 2020. Sasson allegedly used his official position to advance the economic interests of his friend Giora Shabtai in contracts related to the renovation of educational institutions in Be'er Ya'akov, resulting in fraudulent contracts exceeding one million shekels. Additional charges include money laundering.

The indictment also implicates Sasson in assisting another childhood friend to fraudulently win a tender worth tens of thousands of shekels for school renovations. Furthermore, Sasson and a close business partner, a transportation contractor, are accused of fraudulently winning a three-year transportation tender valued at over 20 million shekels. Despite a conflict of interest ruling by the Ministry of Justice’s Committee for Preventing Conflicts of Interest, which disqualified their joint transportation company, the two allegedly maintained their partnership covertly through sham share transfers and formed another business partnership involving land ownership.

During the investigation by the Israeli police's Lahav 433 unit, Sasson reportedly confronted and verbally abused a municipal engineer who testified against him. The indictment includes charges of fraud, breach of trust, aggravated fraud, perjury, threats, and witness harassment.

Sasson's lawyers, Yinon Sertel and Nir Lazar, denied the allegations, calling them baseless and asserting that Sasson is a dedicated public servant trusted by the residents of Be'er Ya'akov. They emphasized that the accusations will be disproven in court. Sasson and the other defendants maintain their presumption of innocence as the legal process continues.