PM’s wife to be questioned under caution

Court issues gag order on Ganor’s testimony in sub case.

By GIL HOFFMAN, UDI SHAHAM, YONAH JEREMY BOB
Updated: AUGUST 3, 2017 04:32
Sara Netanyahu (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Sara Netanyahu
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Police will question Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, on Wednesday regarding the so-called “Prime Minister’s Residence Affair,” at the request of Attorney- General Avichai Mandelblit, Channel 10 reported Tuesday night.
As part of an effort to finalize the case against Sara Netanyahu, the report said, she would be asked about inflated receipts submitted for purchases made for the Prime Minister’s Residence.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not a suspect in the case and has denied wrongdoing by his wife.
In May 2016, police confirmed that they recommended to Mandelblit that he indict Sara Netanyahu in the affair for fraud and breach of trust charges related to using public funds for purchasing food, paying special chefs and related costs for hosting private events.
Meanwhile, the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court issued a gag order on Tuesday on the testimony of state’s witness Miki Ganor in Case 3000, the “Submarine Affair,” which is being conducted at the Lahav 433 police unit.
The order said the gag order applies to “every single detail from the investigation that has to do with the testimony of the state’s witness or from the events that happened prior to his signing of the deal. It also applies to every future detail from his testimony.”
Channel 2 News reported that Netanyahu’s lawyer and confidant David Shimron used Netanyahu’s name in his consultations with Ganor, who represented the German submarine company Thyssenkrupp.
The report said police investigators questioning Shimron asked him why he used the prime minister’s name to advance his business interests.
The report said using Netanyahu’s name was not a sign that Shimron had told the prime minister that he was working with Ganor.
Police leaked two weeks ago that Shimron would immediately be brought in for a second round of questioning following his return from a personal trip to California. But Shimron arrived back in Israel Tuesday and he was not detained.
Last week it was reported that Shimron was due to make $9 million off a controversial submarine deal with Thyssenkrupp.
The reports said Ganor would have received $45m. for the deal and would have had to pay Shimron a fifth of that sum.
Shimron has repeatedly denied receiving anything but a legal retainer for representing Ganor. His lawyers, Yaakov Weinroth and Amit Hadad, vigorously denied the report.
“It is so far from the truth that we cannot believe Ganor would say it,” they said.