With the five remaining candidates in the midst of preparations for Tuesday's presidential election, Labor MK Binyamin Ben-Eliezer has been left to deal with the investigation that prompted him to quit the race over the weekend.
The police still have no evidence that the loan Ben-Eliezer received from businessman Avraham Nanikashvili was a bribe. The two are expected to be questioned again in the coming days.
Channel 2 reported on Sunday that investigators felt that Ben-Eliezer was not telling the truth during his initial questioning, as he initially denied possessing a safe containing tens of thousands of dollars in cash, and only admitted its existence after consulting with his lawyer.
Police also suspect that Ben-Eliezer and Nanikashvili signed a fictitious loan agreement. According to Channel 2, as part of the deal, Ben-Eliezer was to repay the loan from the sale of another asset. Six months later, that asset was sold, but the loan was not paid back.
Meanwhile, police have questioned under warning an associate of a currency exchange business in Tel Aviv at which members of Ben-Eliezer's family conducted a $300,000 transaction for him. One of Ben-Eliezer's sons arrived at the National Fraud Investigations Unit on Sunday to testify about the transaction. Police suspect the son conducted the transaction for his father.
טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו
