Last update - 00:00 19/04/2007
Alleged crime boss Asi Abutbul suspected of bribing ER doctor
By Amir Zohar, Haaretz Correspondent
Police suspect that alleged crime boss Asi Abutbul bribed a senior Emergency Room physician at Tel Aviv's Ichilov Hospital. Abutbul allegedly paid the chief to summon him for medical appointments while he was in custody, and received other medical benefits as well.
Superintendent Michal Hadad, police spokesman for the International Crimes Investigation Unit, confirmed that both Abutbul and the ER chief were questioned but said, "other than that we cannot elaborate at this time."
Abutbul's attorney, Revital Savid, said in reponse that "my client Assi Abutbul is tired of hearing about police suspicions and has asked the court to instruct the ICIU not to question him further."
The affair was revealed during the questioning of Frank Matoudi, one of the suspects in the blackmail case in which the Abutbul family is suspected of blackmailing some thirty businesses and French immigrants.
On Wednesday Matudi's attorneys Guy Maimon and Niva Nakash were dismissed from their duties and replaced by Ofir Strashnov. While police are expecting that Matudi serve as a state witness and are in advanced negotiations with him, the Haaretz has discovered that an agreement has yet to be signed with Matudi.
As opposed to the other five suspects in the affair, Matudi did not appear in court for the extension of his remand as he has been assisting police without his friends' knowledge for the past three weeks.