Capital fire chief suspended over criminal investigation

Decision follows a five-month police investigation involving allegations of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.

By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
firefighters 88 (photo credit: )
firefighters 88
(photo credit: )
Citing basic public values, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat has suspended the city's fire chief in the wake of an ongoing criminal investigation against him involving bribe-taking and fraud, the mayor's spokesman said Sunday. The decision by the mayor to suspend Moshe Suissa until January 24 follows a five-month police investigation involving allegations of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust, and will be reviewed after the State Attorney's Office decides whether to press charges against him. The decision is one of the first major moves made by Barkat since he took office on December 3. Barkat's predecessor, Uri Lupolianski, had given Suissa his full backing, ignoring the recommendation of the city legal adviser Yossi Havilio to suspend him. Barkat decided to suspend the fire chief, who has spent three decades in the service, after a private hearing between the two men, Barkat spokesman Evyatar Elad said on Sunday. "Under these circumstances a decision not to suspend you or transferring you to another position until a decision is made in your case by the State Attorney's Office would send a negative message and would badly damage the image of the municipality by the public at large," Barkat wrote in a letter to the fire chief informing him of his decision to suspend him. The mayor said that if the State Attorney's Office decides not to press charges he would review his decision, and that he urged legal officials to speed up their work to minimize suffering to all parties. Earlier this month, a Jerusalem court heard a petition filed by the Ometz anti corruption group against then-mayor Lupolianski for refusing to suspend Suissa.