Police: We have enough proof to indict Lod mayor

By REBECCA ANNA STOIL
The National Fraud Squad announced Sunday afternoon that they believed there was sufficient evidence to deliver an indictment against Lod Mayor Beni Regev and his associates, who have been under investigation for for various corruption-related allegations. Regev and the other suspects, including a number of family members and his personal assistant Maor Abargil, have been accused of accepting bribes, money laundering, fraud and violation of public trust. Police believe that the suspects received bribes in exchange for advancing the interests of businessmen and contractors working on municipal projects. In addition, police said they had evidence against the heads of organizations working together with the municipality who were suspected of offering bribes to public officials. The bribes were apparently accepted under the cover of a charitable organization that operated the Hapoel Lod soccer club. The soccer club, headed by Abargil, was also run with what police termed "the active involvement" of the Lod mayor. After concluding the investigation on Sunday, the National Fraud Squad handed over the investigation case file to the Central District Attorney's Office, which will have the final say on whether or not to indict the Lod mayor and his cronies.