Nahariya Corruption Probe: Police Installed a Listening Post in the Deputy Mayor’s Office
In the Nahariya corruption affair, police installed a listening post in the office of Deputy Mayor Dima Epstein, who is suspected of taking bribes from criminal elements in the city, as we reported this morning (Wednesday) on the program "Kalman Liberman" on Kan News on Reshet Bet.
In covert recordings from that post, meetings held by the deputy mayor and his conversations with various people in the office were heard, and among the recordings, Epstein was also heard speaking about his ties to Eli Yitzh, who is known to police as the "right-hand man" of the criminal Shmuelik Harosh. Those involved in the affair are suspected of trying to force contractors who wanted to work with the municipality or receive building permits to employ Yitzh, who shared the money with Harosh.
During questioning, Epstein was confronted with various conversations in which he spoke about his ties to Yitzh, including money transfers between them. Epstein said in his interrogation that they had been friends for many years and that some of the money was loans that were repaid. To date, Yitzh and Harosh have chosen to remain silent in their interrogations.
Attorney Yuval Zemer, who represents Yitzh, said that police are trying to attribute criminal acts to "legitimate and entirely lawful business conduct." "Not a single person has been found to support the police theory of tender rigging or influencing bidders to act or refrain from acting in one way or another. I have no doubt that Mr. Yitzh and the other involved parties will be released very soon and that this case will never lead to an indictment," Zemer said.
On behalf of attorneys Rinat Gilead Perl, Moshe Gilead and Ziv Gilead, who represent Deputy Mayor Epstein, it was said: "Our client has no connection to the suspicions, and we will file an appeal in his case. In our legal opinion, the public will see that the deputy mayor will be released very soon." Attorney Yoni Dadon, who represents Harosh, declined to comment.
More on this topic: The conviction of former Hadera Mayor Tzvika Gandelman was overturned. The corruption mechanism in Nahariya: suspicion that criminals took over the municipality and made off with millions.
