Commander Menashe Arbiv, left, and Rabbi Pinto
A US and Israel-based rabbi at the center of an
investigation for corruption initially uncovered by the FBI has now broken his
silence on his ties to a senior fraud squad police officer accused of
bribe-taking.
Last Wednesday, a gag order was lifted on an internal police
investigation into suspicions that police officers - including Commander
Menashe Arbiv, the head of the Lahav 433 anti-fraud unit - had over the years
been enjoying "benefits" from Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto.
According to information received, Rabbi Pinto has now given
Israel Police his own version of events they had previously heard from Arbiv.
Pinto spoke out after learning that Arbiv had told police that the rabbi's
associates had asked for information regarding an investigation into Pinto's
Jerusalem-based Hazon Yeshaya non-profit organization.
Until recently, Pinto and Arbiv were known to have close
ties. Even after Pinto was arrested on suspicion of trying to bribe the head of
the national unit for fraud investigation and Arbiv's superior, Brigadier General
Ephraim Bracha, Pinto never spoke about his relationship with Arbiv. The Rabbi
always claimed that a "senior officer" who knew the real details of
the Bracha affair would tell the truth, exonerating him.
But in a recent investigation, Pinto was questioned about
claims made against him by Arbiv regarding the non-profit probe. Upon receiving
a copy of the indictment against Pinto, the rabbi's confidantes realized that
apart from the Bracha affair, the rabbi is expected to face further police
action, after Arbiv testified that the rabbi had sought details concerning the
investigation into the non-profit organization.
"That's what finally broke the rabbi, and so he agreed
to speak out against Arbiv," said sources familiar with the case.
Following the incident, Pinto's defense attorneys traveled to the US, where
they received information from sources close to the rabbi detailing the
"benefits" Arbiv had received from Pinto's associates.
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein also referred publicly to
the affair today, for the first time. Speaking before the weekly cabinet
meeting in Jerusalem, Weinstein said that the affair was being investigated,
and expressed the hope that "we will serve the public interest in the best
way possible."
Meanwhile, the Police Investigations Unit (PIU) has
completed the first phase of its own investigation into Arbiv, relying in part
on three separate testimonies that back up Pinto's own claims.
The PIU was expected Sunday to complete its initial study of
materials related to the Arbiv affair, prior to a critical meeting between
Weinstein and Arbiv's lawyers. The PIU and the Attorney General were expected
to request that Pinto's lawyers hand over all the materials they have on the
matter, so that they can begin a criminal investigation and obtain a full
picture of the case.
The police are also expected to hold negotiations with
Pinto's lawyers on what they are willing to give in exchange for the probe into
Arbiv. If the representatives from the prosecutor's office stand their ground,
and insist on filing charges against the rabbi, his defense attorneys will not
allow the prosecution to use evidence they have. This turn of events could pose
a problem for the PIU in as their investigation into Arbiv progresses.
In recent days, a representative for Arbiv said that he
plans to return to his post in the coming week. But as things stand now, Arbiv,
who took a leave of absence after the details of the affair began to emerge
last week, is unlikely to return to the police force in the near future.
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