Last update - 00:00 30/01/2007
Local officials suspected of bending rules on their own real estate
By Eli Ashkenazi, Haaretz Correspondent
Investigations have been opened against a number of local authority officials in the north on suspicion of involvement in widespread building and planning violations, many of whihc involved breaking the rules on real estate owned by the officials themselves.
The officials include seven local authority chiefs, heads of building and planning committees, engineers from the building and planning committees, and an assistant local authority chief have been placed under investigation.
Recently, suspicions were raised within the Interior Ministry's supervisory branch for building in the northern region that elected officials in the area were violating building regulations.
Ministry officials discovered that in nine out of the 19 incidents in question, the violations involved the elected officials' personal real estate holdings, while in the remaining 10 incidents, local officials were suspected of approving illegal building projects, or turning a blind eye to building violations.
A number of the officials in question have received warning letters, while the remaining ones are still undergoing investigation.
Additional investigations have been opened, and a number of them will soon be handed over to the attorney general in order to determine if there is sufficient evidence to warrant indictments.