The Justice Ministry confirmed on Sunday that Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit has decided to open a criminal investigation based on the recommendation of the State Prosecutor’s Office regarding the involvement of former Bank Leumi officials in helping to eliminate the tax burden of the bank’s American customers.

The statement said that “naturally, at this stage, we will not be able to relate beyond this to publications or to any details regarding the investigation.”

The affair began when it became known that Bank Leumi had paid the authorities $400 million in the framework of a published arrangement, according to which the bank admitted that it had helped its clients to evade taxes from the US authorities.

The Ministry of Justice announced that at the time the Attorney General had decided to establish a combined team composed of enforcement and consulting bodies to examine the matter and carry out requested actions, including on the civilian and administrative levels.

The matter was brought before the Attorney General in a number of consultations held from time to time in this matter, in accordance with the developments, and as noted a few months ago, the Attorney General decided to adopt the recommendation of the State Attorney’s Office and order an investigation. The matter was brought before the head of the VIP unit, who instructed to conduct an investigation at Lahav 433.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)