Fraud squad police have recommended prosecuting Ra'anana Deputy Mayor Uzi Cohen on allegations of fraud and breach of trust.
By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAYuzi cohen 88 224(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Fraud squad police have recommended prosecuting Ra'anana Deputy Mayor Uzi Cohen on allegations of fraud and breach of trust, according to local press reports. Police announced that they are recommending prosecuting Cohen on charges that he breached building regulations in his house, used a municipal gardening contractor for private purposes, and gave a business license to a company illegally.
According to reports in the Hebrew weekly Yediot Hasharon and the website www.local.co.il, police began the investigation at the instigation of Ra'anana council opposition leader Haim Broide, who in 2004 alleged that Cohen had failed to pay municipal taxes for some 13 years and had breached building codes by enlarging his home by some 200 square meters without authorization and without paying the required municipal fees. Following Broide's complaints, Cohen and the municipality announced that he had paid off his debts, which amounted to some NIS 250,000.
After a lengthy investigation, fraud squad police have now decided to recommend to the District Prosecutor that Cohen be prosecuted over the building breaches, as well as on charges that he used a municipal gardening contractor in his private home and that he gave a business license to the "Green Skies" reception center in Ra'anana in breach of the law. Cohen allegedly knew that the center, which has since been destroyed, had been illegally built on land zoned as agricultural. The District Prosecutor must now decide how to proceed with the charges. Cohen has refused to comment on the allegations.
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