The Economic Department of the State Attorney’s Office filed today (Monday) in the Central District Court, an indictment against Shimon Sher, Deputy Mayor of Netanya, for taking bribes and multiple offenses of fraud and breach of trust.
According to the indictment, between 2011-2016, the defendant served as deputy mayor of Netanya and as chairman of the subcommittee for planning and construction of the local committee in Netanya, and was a member of the “committee of two” which is the Licensing Authority committee that discusses applications for building permits. The defendant with a Netanya real estate developer that will contribute to the institutions of the Sanz Hasidism, to which the defendant belongs. In return for his contribution, the defendant will assist the entrepreneur in locating and promoting real estate projects in Netanya.
In parallel with his position on the Planning and Construction Committee in Netanya, the defendant was very active in raising donations for the Sanz Hasidic institutions and in particular for the institution called the “Orphanage”. Among other things, he worked to raise donations through donation requests from real estate stakeholders in Netanya. This group included real estate developers, contractors and managers in real estate companies or other fields, for which plans and building permits were required from the committee headed by the defendant.
As a result of the defendant’s requests, the stakeholders transferred a sum of about NIS 2 million to the Sanz institutions. Simultaneously with the request for and receipt of the donations, the defendant continued to deal with the requests of the stakeholders, approve them and sign the permits for the real estate projects they owned, with a serious conflict of interest amounting to fraud and breach of trust.
In addition, the defendant acted within the framework of his role and area of influence, while deviating from the line, in order to help the Gali Sanz Hotel avoid closure by the Netanya Municipality despite the dilapidated condition of the building at the time. He thus committed an offense of fraud and breach of trust. The case was investigated by YAHA at Lahav 433 in the Israel Police. During his interrogation, Sher denied the allegation against him.
On behalf of attorneys Amit Hadad, Noa Milstein and Yair Leshem of the Hadad Roth Shenhar law firm, representing Shimon Sher, it was reported: “In recent years, law enforcement agencies have been trying to claim that Rabbi Sher’s public actions – both for Netanya residents and for hundreds of needy and orphans, are undisputed. “They did not put even a penny in his private pocket – raises suspicion of committing offenses in the field of chastity. This is a position that has no value and legal basis at all.”