The Israeli Police's Lahav 433 anti-corruption unit is investigating an associate of outgoing Housing and Construction Minister Ya'acov Litzman for accepting a bribe from an unnamed medical cannabis company in the form of NIS 250,000 in stocks, Channel 13 News reported on Wednesday.
פרסום ראשון: בלהב 433 מתנהלת חקירה סמויה נגד מקורב נוסף לשר ליצמן בחשד שקיבל כספי שוחד מחברת קנאביס בצורת מניות (בנאמנות) כדי שמשרד הבריאות ייטיב עם אותה החברה. החקירה בראשיתה. המקורב מכחיש, במשטרה לא מתייחסים
— עמרי מניב omri maniv (@omrimaniv) June 9, 2021
In exchange, the company allegedly received regulatory benefits from the associate, meaning the allegations occurred during the time when Litzman still served as either Health Minister or Deputy Health Minister (2009-2013, 2015-2020).
The police "neither confirm nor deny" the story, though the associate reportedly denies the allegations which have been levied against him.
The unnamed man was the third associate of Litzman's to be arrested within three days as part of an investigation into a wide-ranging fraud scheme in the health sector involving powerful private sector and media figures.
On Monday, Litzman's chief of staff Moti Bobchick and former Litzman adviser and Hamodia journalist Menachem Gesheid as part of the investigation, which dates back to 2017.
The police said that the two suspects allegedly conspired to influence aspects of government policy in the food sector and other health sector issues in exchange for bribes.
A source within the medical cannabis industry reportedly told Cannabis Magazine that “the fact that the field of medical cannabis has also been investigated in the context of the alleged corruption of Litzman's associates does not surprise anyone in the industry, and certainly not the veterans among them."
"During the Litzman years, serious and strange things happened in the field, to say the least, that should have been investigated a long time ago, but better late than never," the source added.
Litzman himself is also likely to be indicted in a completely separate scandal involving sexual assault offender Malka Leifer and improperly trying to influence inspectors to reopen a restaurant that failed a health inspection.
Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.