Last update - 00:00 12/11/2007
MK Esterina Tartman to be probed in tax case against partner
By Eti Aflalo and Avi Bar-Eli
The Tax Authority will question MK Esterina Tartman (Yisrael Beiteinu) in the case against her partner, Uri Shmuel, the VP of marketing and sales in the Dor Alon petroleum company.
According to the suspicions against him, Shmuel pocketed roughly NIS 2 million in profits from a fuel sale originally intended for the Palestinian Authority. It didn't reach its destination, however, and it was allegedly sold inside Israel without being reported to the Tax Authority.
Suspected of income and tax fraud and money laundering, the Haifa Magistrate's Court on Thursday ordered Shmuel remanded for another three days.
The Tax Authority approached Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik and asked for her permission to question Tartman. It is unclear whether Tarman will be called to give a testimony only or whether she will be named a suspect in the case.
Shmuel, a reserve colonel, has been questioned in the past about fuels sold to the PA. He was also questioned in a different fraud affair in 1998. During the court hearing, Shmuel told Judge Zaid Falah that "there is no way in the world that such a thing could happen. I promise you that every liter that left Dor Alon for the PA arrived there."
The vice president of operations of Dor Alon Operations, a subsidiary of Dor Alon V.P., was also arrested just four months ago. He is suspected of fraudulent accounting practices, reporting false expense figures and padding the company's profits in its balance sheets, forcing its holding company Dor Alon to inject NIS 40 million into the company.
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