Chief Rabbi Placed on House Arrest for Graft

By JTA June 21, 2013

Police placed Israel’s Ashkenazi chief rabbi, Yona Metzger, under house arrest following a 10-hour interrogation on corruption allegations.

According to The Jerusalem Post, police ordered Metzger not to leave his home for five days at the end of his interrogation Thursday.

Investigators from the National Fraud Squad raided his home and offices as part of a bribery, fraud, money-laundering and breach-of-trust case. Police suspect Metzger pilfered donations, the Post reported. Metzger’s lawyers said he denied all allegations against him.

Metzger is forbidden to make contact with either of the other suspects in the case, including Haim Nissan Eisenshtat, who worked for years as Metzger’s driver and personal assistant, and Simcha Karkovsky, the manager of the Beit Hatavshil charity in Bnei Brak.

Following an undercover investigation, officers went public on Thursday, arresting the three suspects and seizing documents, computers and other materials from Metzger’s home and office.

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