After a former prime minister and former president served jail terms, a chief rabbi will enter an Israeli prison as an inmate for the first time. Under a plea bargain submitted to the Jerusalem District Court in the case of former Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger, he will be convicted according to his confession of three counts of bribery, tax fraud, fraud, and obstruction of justice.
As part of the plea bargain reached by the Jerusalem State Prosecutor and Metzger's lawyers, it was agreed that they would jointly ask the Court to impose a 3.5-year jail sentence, probation, and a NIS 5 million fine, including confiscation of Metzger's assets.
The indictment filed against Metzger a year ago charged him with many offenses during his term as Chief Rabbi of Israel, including bribery, breach of trust, aggravated fraud, inheritance theft, conspiracy to commit a crime, money laundering, and tax violations while performing his duty and taking advantage of his exalted status.
The indictment portrays a thoroughly corrupt public figure, who in the course of committing crimes and as a result of them, allegedly received bribes totaling NIS 8 million (NIS 10 million in today's values), of which he took NIS 5 million for himself (NIS 7 million in today's values).
The plea bargain included a revision of the indictment, with some of the bribes and offenses attributed to Metzger, among them money laundering, being removed. The plea bargain also included payment by Metzger of a civil assessment of the tax not paid to the state in respect of his offenses.
According to the plea bargain, the amount of the bribes Metzger was charged with taking was halved to NIS 5 million in return for his consent to a two-year prison term, assuming time off for good behavior. The prosecution and defense agreed that confiscation of Metzger's apartment would constitute compliance with all the state's demands, including the fine and the tax assessment.
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on January 30, 2017
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