Rafi Sa’ar, the mayor of Kfar Saba, and his wife were arrested as part of a more than a year-long investigation by the National Fraud Investigations Unit of Lahav 433.<\/p>\n
Police also arrested 15 others in the public corruption<\/a> scandal, including the CEO of Kfar Saba’s economic development company and several businesspeople. Seven additional suspects were detained for questioning.<\/p>\n Investigators<\/a> suspect that Sa’ar, other senior officials, and businesspeople were involved in serious corruption offenses, including bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.<\/p>\n According to police, those involved allegedly manipulated public tenders to unlawfully award contracts to local business owners in exchange for benefits and bribes, primarily paid in cash.<\/p>\n The tenders involved enormous sums of money and covered a range of municipal services, including cleaning, construction, and other areas of the municipality’s operations.<\/p>\n Police have arrested or detained 24 suspects in connection with the case so far.<\/p>\n Police suspect that Sa’ar’s wife played an unusually prominent role in the bribery scheme and in efforts to ensure certain businesspeople won contracts across various municipal sectors.<\/p>\n