Meuhedet dir.-gen. quits amid accusations of corruption

The charges against him and other members of the board were raised by the state comptroller in a special 300-page report about the health fund.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Meuhedet 311 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
Meuhedet 311
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
Shmuel Muallem, for the last three years director-general of Kupat Holim Meuhedet, resigned finally on Sunday by order of the Health Ministry because of his involvement in alleged crimes of corruption carried out in the country’s third-largest health fund.
Muallem had worked in the fund for 42 years. Board chairman Rabbi Yerahmiel Boyer took over his authority after Muallem told the board of directors that he had decided to leave. Boyer will hold the position for up to two weeks until an acting director-general will be found to replace him.
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The charges against him and other members of the board were raised by the state comptroller in a special 300-page report about the health fund. It claims that for decades the health fund allegedly misused its budget by illegally paying yeshiva students to switch from other funds; allowing its chief pharmacist (who has since resigned) to run a private pharmacy with health fund members; and taking other forbidden actions.
In an official statement, the health fund said that it had “completed a very intensive series of discussions” on the comptroller report during which it “proceeded to immediately correct the shortcomings that were disclosed.” The statement continued that these corrections included “personal conclusions in accordance with the report’s conclusions, as required by law.”
Health Ministry directorgeneral Dr. Ronni Gamzu, it said, will receive the full Meuhedet report.
Ministry deputy director-general Yoel Lipschitz, who is in charge of supervising the health funds, said on Sunday night that he was waiting for Muallem’s official letter of resignation and was observing the health fund carefully to see whether it would carry out other orders.
Meanwhile, the Israel Police is slowly investigating the criminal charges brought out by comptroller.