An indictment was filed today (Tuesday) against Hadera Mayor Zvi Gandelman for offenses of fraud and breach of trust, receiving anything fraudulently, obstruction of justice and an offense under the Computer Law.
The offenses were allegedly committed from the time Gandelman was elected mayor and chair of the local planning and construction committee in October 2013 until the outbreak of the investigation in June 2018.
According to the indictment, Shmuel (Sami) Levy was a real estate contractor and entrepreneur with significant economic interests in the city of Hadera, who previously held a variety of positions in the municipal apparatus, including acting mayor. Levy promoted Gandelman's candidacy in the 2013 election campaign Exploiting his political power and ability to influence the voters in the city. Levyman did not report the conflict of interest to the City Attorney or any other party, did not sign a conflict of interest arrangement as required by law and did not disqualify himself from discussing Levy's matters in his public office.
Among the other actions that Gandelman performed while in a conflict of interest with Levy - providing direct access to Levy, frequently, to the mayor's office and handling Levy's requests for employment and promoting employees in the municipality. In addition, Gandelman did not disqualify himself from discussing real estate projects in Hadera, in which Levy was interested. Shalevi Real Estate has a substantial economic interest in it and was a partner in granting a building permit for a nursing home on land owned by Levy.
It was also stated that at the end of January 2018, the mayor's office received a request under the Freedom of Information Act to receive Gandelman's meeting diaries.
Following this, Gandelman and the director of his bureau agreed that they would delete from the mayor's computerized diary some of the meetings that appeared in it and that he did not want anything to happen, including the meetings with Levy.
The director of the bureau acted in accordance with the summary, thus causing a false output to be generated from the computerized diary.
In addition, it was agreed that the director of the bureau would submit to the Freedom of Information Commissioner in the municipality an overestimation of the working hours required to process the application, in order to get the applicant to withdraw the application and this was indeed the case.
According to the indictment, after Gandelman learned that a member of the Hadera City Council had issued a statement to the police, which related, among other things, to Gandelman's relationship with Levy, Gandelman informed Levy's driver about giving the message and sent him a message to stay away from the municipality in the near future. Criminal investigation.
Gandelman's driver was also charged with obstruction of justice.
Another indictment, as part of a plea deal, is filed against the director of the bureau for offenses of fraud and breach of trust, receiving anything by fraud and an offense under the Computer Law.
Attorney General: Examine Gandelman's suspension
Simultaneously with the filing of the indictment, Attorney General Dr. Avichai Mandelblit today submitted to the Committee for the Examination of the Suspension of Municipalities a request for the suspension of Gandelman, due to the filing of the indictment alleging a series of ongoing offenses, all committed during his public tenure. Given the nature and severity of the acts attributed to Gandelman, which include offenses related to chastity, directly related to his duties as mayor, including exploiting this position to conceal data and disrupt investigative moves, the attorney general believes there is justification for suspending him from office due to the indictment filed against him. Continuing his tenure after the indictment may result in serious damage to public trust and the values of chastity and the rule of law. Undesirable effect on the conduct of the local authority.
The request was submitted on behalf of the Attorney General, through attorneys Gil Bilevsky and Amikam Eshel from the Tel Aviv District Attorney's Office (civil).
The investigation was conducted by the Israel Police Lahav 433. The case is being handled by attorneys Uri Priceman and Noga Blickstein of the Taxation and Economics Attorney's Office.