Former MK Amnon Cohen, released to house arrest, suspected of sexual bribery

In court on Sunday Cohen denied the police allegations and said there is a conspiracy of “crooks who are trying to take me down.”

By ELIYAHU KAMISHER
MK Amnon Cohen (photo credit: OSHRIT COHEN/WIKIMEDIA)
MK Amnon Cohen
(photo credit: OSHRIT COHEN/WIKIMEDIA)
The Rishon Lezion Magistrates Court released former Shas MK Amnon Cohen to house arrest on Sunday after he was questioned and detained by police on suspicion of bribery on Wednesday.
According to the Lahav 433 anticorruption unit, former Shas MK Amnon Cohen is being investigated for allegedly receiving bribes from an Israeli businessman during his long legislative tenure. Some of the bribes were of a sexual nature. In return, the former MK is suspected of promoting the businessman’s agenda in several areas.
In court on Sunday Cohen denied the police allegations and said there is a conspiracy of “crooks who are trying to take me down.”
”Everything will be fine, the truth will come out. I trust the investigators and the police do their job well. I am clean and I did nothing wrong,” Cohen said, as reported by Channel 2.
The case against Cohen was advanced by the testimony of a women from abroad who claimed to have been part of the sexual bribes. Cohen was confronted with the woman’s testimony during his interrogation on Wednesday.
Police said they were guided by “substantial suspicions” that the former Knesset member was involved in bribery, fraud and breach of trust felonies.
They also cited the investigative television series Uvda, which published incriminating evidence regarding financial bribery of the former MK early this year.
The investigation is being monitored by the Tel Aviv District Attorney’s Office, which will decide if the case will be prosecuted.
Despite Cohen’s release, police sources said the investigation is still ongoing.
Cohen was an MK from 1999 to 2015.