Police on Tuesday night met with Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz in Jerusalem to discuss the final stages of the criminal investigation into Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimksi
"We confirm that there was a meeting in the attorney-general's office regarding Lieberman. We stress that this was not a summing-up meeting and that the case has not been sent to state prosecutors," police said.
Lieberman is suspected of fraud, bribery, breach of public trust, and fraudulent receipt of goods. Police believe Lieberman laundered millions of dollars, funneling the funds through a consultancy firm registered in his daugther's name, as well as a company owned by Lieberman himself.
Lieberman is also suspected of running personal business affairs while holding a ministerial post.
"During the meeting [with Mazuz], steps were examined that are needed to complete the inquiry soon and to pass on the case [to prosecutors]," police added.
Former senior National Fraud Unit investigator Dep.-Cmdr. (ret.) Boaz Guttman, who served in the police for 21 years, explained that meetings between police and Mazuz had little significance on the status of the case.
"Until the attorney-general notifies the suspect telling him he will be indicted and that he has 30 days to request a hearing, this back-and-forth with Mazuz holds no substantial information," Guttman said. "Even if the police think they are finished with the investigation, they could be asked by state prosecutors to go back and complete lines of inquiry," he added.
While Mazuz has the power to order police to launch investigations into senior politicians, he can not decide on whether to indict suspects. Rather, it is state prosecutors who take final decisions on whether to proceed to indictments, Guttman said.
"What's important is whether the case material has been passed to the Justice Ministry in a final manner. If this has not happened, the investigation has not yet ended," Guttman stressed. "Mazuz is not part of the transformation of a police investigation into a court case," he added.
