Last update - 00:00 18/03/2008
Mazuz weighs indicting judge for fraud and breach of trust
By Tomer Zarchin, Haaretz Correspondent
Attorney General Menachem Mazuz announced Monday that has tentatively decided to indict Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court Judge Dahlia Mark-Horenczyk for fraud, breach of trust and abusing her position.
However, a final decision on whether to indict the judge will be made only after she has been given a hearing with Mazuz. Mark-Horenczyk's attorneys, Yehuda Weinstein and Kenneth Mann, said Monday they are certain the hearing will make it clear that she did not violate any laws.
Mazuz's decision was based on a recommendation to indict by the State Prosecutor's Office.
Mark-Horenczyk was appointed to the Tel Aviv court in 1989 as a registrar and became a judge in 1995. Since July 2007, when the suspicions against her became public, she has been on a leave of absence.
Mark-Horenczyk is suspected of having improper ties with lawyer Gad Frankel. She allegedly received various favors and benefits from Frankel: For instance, he reportedly sold her an apartment at a reduced price and provided her with personal financial guarantees as part of the sale.
In return, Mark-Horenczyk allegedly appointed Frankel as a mediator and receiver in a long list cases brought before her. She made several of these appointments while Frankel was suspended from the bar.
The Israel Bar Association had convicted Frankel in a disciplinary hearing of unbecoming behavior, harming the profession's reputation and other improprieties, after Frankel failed to transfer monies he had received as a receiver to their proper destinations. The verdict also stemmed from his failure to implement a court decision.
Last August, Frankel was indicted for fraud, forgery, bouncing checks, theft and other charges. Among these charges is an accusation that Frankel abused his position as a receiver in four different cases to steal assets worth millions during 2004-5.
There have been two other recent cases involving judges suspected of criminal acts. Judge Osnat Alon-Laufer from the Be'er Sheva Family Court was convicted of ordering a wiretap of her partner, who she suspected of cheating on her. She was fined NIS 10,000 and received a six-month suspended sentence.
Judge Hila Cohen of the Administrative Court in Haifa was removed after forging court records of hearings that never took place.
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