Police recommend fraud indictment for Israeli minister

Jerusalem: Israeli police on Tuesday recommended the indictment of Interior Minister Arye Deri for fraud and breach of trust in an investigation related to real estate sales. The attorney general will now decide whether to charge Deri, who heads ultra-Orthodox Jewish party Shas and has previously served prison time for corruption. “The findings of the investigation are that there is an evidentiary basis against Deri that he committed fraud and breach of trust in connection with his conduct while serving as a minister,” a police statement said. It said there was also evidence of tax offences amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars and money laundering, among others. The long-running investigation looked into large money transfers to Deri linked to land sales, police said.