State prosecutors on Sunday indicted Be’er Ya’acov deputy council head Noam Sasson and six other defendants over allegations that he exploited his municipal position to steer public contracts to associates, including a transportation tender from which a company allegedly received more than NIS 20 million.
The indictment charges Sasson with three counts of fraud and breach of trust, aggravated fraud, making a false sworn statement, threats, and witness harassment.
The other defendants include Giora Shabtai, contractor Erez Medina, Oshri Farhan, transportation contractor Eliyahu Dawan, and two companies. They face various charges, including aggravated fraud, offenses involving bribery and mediation, false corporate records, money laundering, and tax offenses.
According to the indictment, Sasson served from June 2019 as a salaried deputy head of the Be’er Ya’acov Local Council, holder of its engineering portfolio, chairman of its tenders committee, and the official responsible for the local community center.
Summer renovation work at municipal educational institutions
The first count concerns summer renovation work at municipal educational institutions in 2019.
Prosecutors alleged that Sasson acted in a serious conflict of interest to promote the economic interests of Shabtai, a longtime acquaintance with whom he had both political and business ties.
The work was awarded through the Local Government Economic Services Company after contractor Gil Sabo submitted the most favorable bid. Prosecutors alleged that Shabtai and Medina then arranged to carry out the renovation work themselves and retain the profits, while using another company as a purported subcontractor.
According to the indictment, Shabtai pressed Sasson to ensure that the council would not issue a separate public tender and would approve the MASHKAL engagement. Sasson allegedly knew that Shabtai would be involved in the work and would benefit financially from it, but nevertheless repeatedly intervened with municipal officials to advance work orders, approvals, and payments.
The indictment alleges that the council ultimately transferred more than NIS 1.4m. for the renovation work. It says NIS 917,706 was subsequently transferred through the purported subcontractor, while about NIS 450,000 was allegedly passed secretly to Shabtai and Medina.
It further alleges that Medina received NIS 20,000 in cash from Sabo and passed it to Shabtai in return for using his ties in the council to secure approval of the work. Sasson is not charged with accepting a bribe in that count.
Roof-sealing work at three Be’er Ya’acov kindergartens
A separate count concerns roof-sealing work at three Be’er Ya’acov kindergartens in early 2020. According to prosecutors, Sasson obtained competing price quotes from an engineering department employee and passed the details, including the lowest offer of NIS 31,000, to his childhood friend Sagi Bergig.
Bergig then allegedly arranged for a contractor to submit a NIS 30,500 bid shortly before the council’s procurement committee convened. The contractor was selected after offering the lowest price, the indictment said.
The largest alleged scheme concerns a three-year transportation tender involving Dawan and his company.
The indictment states that Sasson and Dawan were close friends and business partners who jointly held interests in a plot of land in Be’er Ya’acov. Because of that relationship, the Justice Ministry’s conflict-of-interest committee determined that Dawan’s transportation company could not participate in the council tender.
Prosecutors alleged that Sasson and Dawan then formally dissolved their partnership through a share sale, but continued to act as business partners in relation to the original plot and another property. Sasson allegedly signed an affidavit declaring that he had no business relationship with Dawan, allowing the council to approve the company’s participation in the tender.
According to the indictment, his company received NIS 20.2m. from the council through MASHKAL between 2020 and 2022.
Sasson and Dawan are charged in that count with aggravated fraud and breach of trust. Sasson is also charged with making a false sworn statement, while Dawan and the company are charged with money laundering offenses.
The indictment further alleges that Sasson confronted the council’s municipal engineer while the police investigation was ongoing, shouting at her over her testimony and threatening to have her removed from her position.
Shabtai is also accused in a separate tax count of failing to report about NIS 4.5m. in income between 2012 and 2019. Medina is charged with allegedly omitting more than NIS 1m. in rental income from tax reports between 2016 and 2019.
The prosecution has also requested the forfeiture of assets upon conviction, including funds and property connected to several of the defendants.
