Charity head hospitalized after police inquiry

Hazon Yeshaya head who is under investigation due to suspicions of widespread misuse of donation money reports feeling unwell.

By YAKKOV LAPPIN
Soup kitchen 521 (photo credit: Courtesy Be’er Sova)
Soup kitchen 521
(photo credit: Courtesy Be’er Sova)
The head of the Hazon Yeshaya charity, who is under investigation due to suspicions of widespread misuse of donation money and other alleged offenses, was hospitalized during police questioning, a police source familiar with the investigation said Monday.
The charity head, who cannot be named due to a media ban, was being questioned at the headquarters of the police’s National Fraud Unit on Sunday, when he reported feeling unwell and taken to hospital.
He and three employees of the charity were arrested and ordered by the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court to remain in custody for a number of days as the investigation continues.
“Some of the suspects are denying the suspicions, while others are keeping quiet,” the police source added. Ten additional suspects who were arrested in connection with the investigation have since been released.
Police suspect that members of the charity falsely inflated the number of donors in order to receive more donations, and falsified the number of Holocaust victims receiving aid, the police source said.
On Sunday, police announced that they suspected the charity of cheating donors out of the funds after making them believe the money would be used for purchasing food for the needy, when in fact the money was used to purchase food that was sold to buyers in the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community.
Eyal Cohen, an attorney representing one of the suspects, said the allegations came from competing charities who were envious of Hazon Yeshaya’s success.