Ministry of Education scam detainees: "fictitious charges"

"The mountain will lead to a mouse," say lawyers today concerning the three Ministry of Education fraud suspects through false associations.

Attorney Ariel Atari, representing the director of the association, said in a conversation with B'Chadrei Charedim: "The claim that this is an organization that did not exist - is false. It is prominent that Israeli police rushed to arrest before they had substantial evidence in their hands."

According to Atari, the police changed their claim against his client since the case began. "There is a debate on the number of students of that institution, as opposed to number of students reported to the Ministry of Education. According to what I understand, the police say that there is a 40 percent gap between reality and what is being reported. The only strange thing is that the police claimed yesterday that it is a factious organization, one that does not exist."

Attorney Atari hopes that the investigation will end soon and allegations will be refuted. "I'm not surprised by the fact that the police wanted to extend the detention by 11 days and the court extended by only 6 days until Sunday. I have no doubt they will be released and I doubt whether an indictment will be filed at the end of the investigation."

Attorney Shimon Kokos, representing one fraud suspect, spoke with B'Chadrei Charedim. Decisively he states: "There is no real evidence by the police. There is a fishing trip and a hunting trip and if I turn to the police representative with a simple question about the length of time my client is authorized signatory at the organization, the representative does not know the answer to that - there is no greater proof of my words.

"The police know the general rules, and are waiting for someone to fall in his words," he says. "My client is a person with no criminal record, but when the police sees paperwork with large numbers it is considered a good opportunity to catch the suspects, including my client and say things that between them and reality – there is no connection. Well in this case, I think the mountain will beget a mouse."

Attorney Nadav Gedaliah, who represents the third suspect, asked during the hearing to release his client due to the fact that unlike others, he collaborated with the investigation and his involvement is relatively small, and ends with cashing checks transferred to him - by the other suspects.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!