Tel-Aviv District Court Judge Efraim Shalev has convicted former
Likud brass on five counts: falsifying corporate documents; preparing
and maintaining false books of account; use of fraud, stealth and
cunning; making of a false declaration; and holding foreign currency
without a permit under aggravating circumstances.
Found guilty of these charges were Mordechai Yahal, former controller
of the Likud faction, and manager of the companies BMI Shachar
Communications and Hilat Advertising.
Menahem (Menta) Atzmon, former treasurer and one of the founders of
the amutot (non-profit societies) for the victory of the Likud in the
1988 elections, and of the Likud fund in the 1989 local authorities
elections, was convicted on charges of falsifying corporate documents;
use of fraud, stealth and cunning; obtaining by fraud under
aggravating circumstances; and knowingly making a false declaration.
Atzmon was acquitted of charges of preparing false books of account,
of another charge of use of fraud, stealth and cunning and of
issuing tax invoices where no relevant transaction had taken place.
Yonah Peled, one of the founders of the amuta for the victory of the
Likud in the 1988 elections, a signing officer of that amuta and of the
amuta of the Likud fund in the 1989 local authorities elections, and
who also collected contributions for the Likud in the 1988 elections,
was convicted of falsifying corporate documents; preparing false books
of account; use of fraud, stealth and cunning; and issuing tax invoices
where no relevant transaction had taken place.
Gad Qumran, former treasurer of the Likud branch in Herzliya, who was
active in collecting contributions for the Knesset elections, and
engaged in the making of payments to various suppliers in respect of
services rendered to the Likud prior to the elections, was convicted on
counts of: falsifying corporate documents; preparing and maintaining
false books of account; use of fraud, stealth and cunning; and issuing
tax invoices where no relevant transaction had taken place.
Moshe Kalick, former Likud treasurer in the Nathanya branch, who
engaged in collecting contributions for the Likud election campaigns,
was acquitted on all counts.
The indictment related to offences perpetrated prior to the general
Knesset elections, and also prior to the 1989 local authorities
elections. The accused committed these acts with a view to bypassing
the prohibition against accepting contributions from corporations
under the parties financing law and under the Local Authorities Law.