A-G considering new tax fraud indictment against Haim Katz
Katz still has an opportunity to get the case closed at a pre-indictment hearing before Mandelblit.
By YONAH JEREMY BOBAttorney-General Avichai Mandelblit and Likud MK Haim Katz(photo credit: ARIK BENDER/MAARIV)
Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit announced Tuesday night that he is leaning toward indicting senior Likud MK and former minister, Haim Katz, for alleged NIS 2.2 million in tax fraud.Katz still has an opportunity to get the case closed at a pre-indictment hearing before Mandelblit.In February, the Knesset voted to grant Katz immunity from a prior indictment which Mandelblit had decided to file.According to a Justice Ministry statement, between 2007-2018, Katz earned significant rental income from seven properties under his and family members’ ownership.The statement said that in regard to some of the properties, Katz had failed to report his rental income entirely to tax authorities, while with others he had only reported partially and significantly late.Lawyer Navit Negev said that the charges were administrative and not criminal, and that the only reason the allegations had been pushed into the criminal sphere was because of Katz’s political status.She added that the allegations would be rebutted at the pre-indictment hearing, noting that even the ministry’s statement had recognized that some of the properties were not in Katz’s name.In August 2019, Mandelblit announced he would file a different and more severe indictment against Katz for fraud and breach of trust.According to that indictment, Katz had violated conflict of interest principles in his economic dealings with Equital Ltd.’s Motti Ben Ari on several occasions, and covered it up to obtain illegal financial gain for the two of them.Katz strongly supported a 2010 reform of insolvency laws that were allegedly specifically aimed at helping Ben Ari and his company and in which Katz was also heavily invested.
This would mean that Katz helped advance legislation for personal gain and to aid his primary financial adviser and close friend.A spokeswoman for Katz noted that the Knesset had not only granted him immunity, but denied that he had even committed an ethical violation.Although the Knesset spared Katz that indictment going to court, Mandelblit’s decision forced him to resign his ministerial post.Tuesday’s charges may not give Katz a chance at parliamentary immunity since the tax violations were, unlike the previous charges, unrelated to his role as a public servant.Katz was cleared of charges in a third affair, the Israel Aerospace Industries case, in which the police had recommended he be indicted, but Mandelblit decided against proceeding with the case in August last year.
