16 Israeli authorities to be tried over corruption

Former top officials in Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party will be charged with corruption.

Former Minister Stas Misezhnikov and former Deputy Minister Faina Kirschenbaum are among the 16 suspects slated to be indicted, Israeli Attorney General said in a statement.

Both Misezhnikov and Kirschenbaum will be summoned for a hearing, after which they are expected to be formally charged, the statement said.

The economic department of the State Attorney’s Office has notified 14 other suspects that it is considering prosecuting them as well.

Further summonses are pending, with a decision not yet reached in some of the cases.

Stas Misezhnikov, a former tourism minister, is expected to be charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust and with possession and use of a dangerous substance, as well as obstruction of justice.

Faina Kirschenbaum, a former deputy minister at the Interior Ministry and the former general secretary of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, is expected to be charged with bribery, fraud, breach of trust, money laundering and tax evasion.

The violations attributed to these suspects took place between 2009 and 2014, according to the State Attorney’s office.

Some of the illegal activity is said to have only stopped when the investigation became public knowledge in December 2014.