Another arrest made in Holyland case

Businessman Kelner allegedly paid hundreds of thousands of shekels in bribes.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Avigdor Kelner (photo credit: YAAKOV LAPPIN)
Avigdor Kelner
(photo credit: YAAKOV LAPPIN)
The Israel Police's National Fraud Unit arrested on Thursday businessman Avigdor Kelner on suspicion of involvement in the Holyland real estate bribery investigation - described by law enforcement officials as the most severe episode of corruption that has surfacedin Israel's history.
Kelner, 67, managed the Polar Investments company between 1996 and 2007, and had majority stock ownership in the the Holyland Park and Zera companies.
He is suspected of paying hundreds of thousands of shekels in bribes via companies he owned to public officials in the Jerusalem municipality in order to promote the Holyland residential development.
A partial media ban remains in place on details of the investigation.
It appears likely that police suspect money reached members of the municipality's planning and construction committee, as well as other officials whose approval was required for construction to go ahead.
Other possible suspicions against Kelner include paying bribes to Israel Lands Authority employees in order to ensure that the Zera company received several plots of land which it then developed. The illicit funds allegedly enabled the Zera company to stray fromoriginal plans for certain plots of lands and develop alternative projects on the properties.
Rishon Lezion Magistrate Judge Avraham Haiman extended Kelner's custody by six days.
Kelner was arrested on insider trading suspicions in 2007, prompting his resignation from Polar Investments.
He has also been linked to a previous corruption investigation which led to the indictment of Israel Lands Authority senior official Oded Tal. Tal has been charged with receiving bribes from Kelner and businessman David Appel. While Appel and Tal were indicted, Kelnerescaped prosecution and appears in the case as a state witness.
Earlier on Thursday, former National Fraud Unit investigator Dep.-Cmdr. (ret.) Boaz Guttman told The Jerusalem Post thatUri Sheetrit, former chief Jerusalem Municipality  engineer, who wasarrested on Tuesday on suspicion that he dropped his initial oppositionto the Holyland project in Jerusalem and became a supporter afteraccepting very large bribes, had been under the police's "magnifyingglass" for several years.
"Sheetrit has been on the police'sradar for a while. Information in the National Fraud Unit's possessionhas tied him to problematic projects. His name is known to me from pastchecks of real estate projects," Guttman said. "But until now, policewere unable to put it all together and see the bigger picture. Thebreakthrough usually takes place when someone comes forward withinformation."
Under modern Israeli law, prosecution of suspectson bribery charges requires police to prove that money was transferredto a recipient and that favors were granted in exchange for the funds,Guttman stressed.