First publication: The State Comptroller and his staff are considering whether to remove the police investigation department from the prosecutor's office, Israel Hayom has learned.
In recent months, members of the State Comptroller arrived at the private home of the former Deputy Head of the Police Department, Moshe Saada, to collect documents related to the affairs of the Department of Police Investigations.
"Israel Hayom" also learned that for the past year and a half, a team in the state comptroller's office has been working on an audit report examining whether there are conflicts of interest in that the police investigation department is a unit of the prosecutor's office subordinate to the state attorney.
In the next two months, the auditor will demand a reference from the director of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the state attorney to the claims, and in February 2023 he will publish the final report.
In September 2020, the head of the investigations branch in the Police Investigations Department, Dobi Scherzer, who is close to the deputy director of the department Moshe Saada, addressed in a letter to the State Comptroller Matanyahu Engelman with allegations against the conduct of the Police Department and its head.
His claims aroused the critic.
Moshe Saada, photo: Yossi Zeliger
The head of the investigation branch in the police investigation department, Dovi Scherzer, during his days in the police,
A row of anecdotes
"Due to the fact that the intention to establish the committee to review the conduct of the Police Investigation Department was thwarted, and since an investigation is warranted in light of the State Attorney's Office's improper and losing conduct of its organizations, I would like to bring to your attention the materials that will be detailed below, and this without any other factor that may be required for the matter and because of the public importance of the matter in general And M.A.S. and its conduct in particular," Scherzer wrote to the auditor. Scherzer also added: "This request includes internal correspondence and investigative materials that speak for themselves."
The documents that Scherzer submitted to the auditor and his claims related to the cases: the closing of the investigation file regarding the dormitory case investigator Avi Rotenberg, the case of former commissioner Roni Elsheich's threats against former director of the Department of Internal Affairs Uri Carmel, and his alleged interference in the investigation of Umm Al-Khiran, the non-prosecution of the director of Gila Gaziel that the director of the Ministry of Internal Affairs ordered to investigate, avoiding the investigation of the "Fifth Dimension" case (although it was investigated by the Competition Authority accompanied by the Attorney General's Office), and more.
Former police commissioner Roni Alsheich, photo: Koko
Head of the Keren Bar Menachem Police Department and former state attorney Shai Nitzan, photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Saada's documents
A few weeks later, Saada was summoned to the State Comptroller's office to discuss the issues brought up by Scherzer.
Two months ago, members of the State Comptroller came to Saada's private home and took out many documents from it, including internal documents of the tax office that Saada owns.
The documents sought by the inspectors deal with some of the cases brought up by Scherzer as well as documents related to the Roni Ritman case, the investigation into the death of Ahovia Sendak, and more.
"Israel Hayom" has learned that the State Comptroller's office is close to finalizing a report that deals with the organizational implications of Scherzer and Saada's claims regarding the structure of the National Security Agency.
After the claims that agitated the country: Roni Elsheich responds in an exclusive interview to "Israel Hayom" // Photo: Moshe Ben Simhon
For example, the auditor examines whether the presence of an inspector in the prosecutor's office and under the authority of the state attorney creates an inherent conflict of interest in the activities of the police investigation department. In the coming weeks, the auditor's office will complete the writing of the draft report, and in October they will send it to the director of the Keren Bar-Menachem inspector general and the state attorney Amit Isman for a response .
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