Police Arrest 13 Additional Balad Activists on Fraud Suspicions

Jerusalem, 21 September, 2016 (TPS) -- Following the police crackdown on the Israeli-Arab Knesset party Balad announced on Sunday, the police said on Tuesday morning that 13 additional suspects have been arrested. They are activists for the party who are suspected of involvement in a series of offenses involving money that was received and used to fund the party.

The police suspects that the suspects were involved in a systematic misrepresentation of the origin of funds, while committing a series of financial offenses, including money laundering, false reporting, forgery, receiving an object by deception under aggravated circumstances and numerous violations of the Political Parties Financing Law.

The suspects are expected to be brought before court in northern and central Israel to extend their remand, depending on the progress of the investigation.

Apart from the newly arrested suspects, 23 other suspects are currently detained, including lawyers and accountants. The police said that six of them will be brought today to court to extend their remand, and court discussions on the 17 others will take place tomorrow.