Last update - 00:00 10/01/2007
Treasury likely to seek long-term substitute for Tax Authority head
By Moti Bassok and Roni Singer-Heruti, Haaretz Correspondents
The finance minister's bureau will soon begin looking for candidates to head the Tax Authority, on the assumption that the current head, Jacky Matza, will not be able to return to his post any time soon because of the large-scale corruption scandal in which he is embroiled.
The scandal involves allegations of bribe-taking in exchange for tax breaks to businessmen and political figures.
Finance Minister Abraham Hirchson and the acting head of the Tax Authority, former Finance Ministry director general Yossi Bachar, have agreed that Bachar will replace Matza for no more than three months, and that Hirchson would try to find a replacement before then. Senior treasury officials expect the investigation of Matza to last far longer than three months.
Ministry officials have said they do not think that any of the current Tax Authority officials would be fit to head the authority. Matza's replacement is likely to come from the ranks of former senior tax commission officials now working in the private sector. If that fails, the next head could be a leading accountant or lawyer in the business sector who specializes in taxes.
The Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court on Tuesday extended the custody of the Tax Authority representative in the United States by four days. Yigal Sa'ar is suspected of accepting bribery, accepting a position illegally and breach of trust.
Sa'ar was arrested at the airport Monday, upon his arrival in Israel, as part of the continuing investigation of the corruption scandal. The fraud squad questioned Sa'ar the night of his arrest and continued the interrogation for several hours Tuesday.
Police are investigating the suspicion that Sa'ar used his position in the Tax Authority to help businessmen Kobi Ben-Gur and Yoram Karashi, in exchange for which they used their influence to help him rise from head of the customs and value-added tax department to U.S. representative.
Ben-Gur and Karashi, who are two of the primary suspects in the Tax Authority corruption scandal, are due for a custody-extension hearing before the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court Wednesday. Police are considering the possibility of house arrest, but are expected to end up requesting that both remain behind bars.
The fraud squad continued the interrogations Tuesday of some 15 people suspected of involvement in the Tax Authority scandal, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's bureau chief, Shula Zaken, who is also Karashi's sister. Others whose continued to be interrogated Tuesday included Karashi, Ben-Gur and Tax Authority head Jacky Matza.