A fraud scandal involving more than 1 million NIS was discovered, an operation which manufactured pay slips for fictitious employees in a maintenance and cleaning company.

Recently, the Israel Police received information that a work supervisor at the company, a resident of Silwan, employs more than 10 workers who received wages for a period without actually working in a company that provides maintenance and cleaning services in public frameworks, including educational institutions in Jerusalem.

As a result, a covert investigation was launched in conjunction with the income tax investigations in Jerusalem and the south, during which it emerged that those suspects who registered with the company as employees who were employed there, received wages, and were issued pay slips from the company for a period. It was in this framework they were provided with pension and other benefits.

In the course of the investigation, it emerged that the main suspect was that he had located and received the workers and filled in the relevant forms for placement in the workplace. The wages received for these workers were deposited in their accounts and they transferred a significant part of the salary to the suspect’s account, a kickback for his services.

On Sunday 22 Tammuz, 11 suspects, residents of the eastern capital, were detained by the Israel Police and brought for questioning in the Fraud Unit.

In a search carried out in the suspects’ homes, cash and fake pay slips were found. During their interrogation, the suspects themselves conspired to commit fraud and deception. The main suspect, a 41-year-old resident of Silwan, was arrested and his detention was extended by the court. The remaining suspects were released under restrictive conditions. The investigation continues.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)