State prosecutors filed indictments in the Central-Lod District Court on Monday against seven military and police officers on charges of taking bribes, theft by a public servant, money laundering, obstruction of justice, tax offenses, and other crimes.

The defendants, members of “operational units” in the IDF and police, “abused their office and their authorities” over the course of several months and pocketed sums of money and property amounting to tens of millions of shekels, the State Attorney’s Office said.

Most of the defendants laundered the money through cryptocurrency. State law enforcement agencies seized over NIS 50 million during the course of the investigation.

According to the indictment, three of the defendants sought to destroy evidence of their crimes after they discovered that an investigation was underway, and that one of the suspects had been arrested.

The indictment was based on a joint investigation by the Shin Bet, the Israel Police, IDF Military Police, and the Department for Internal Police Investigations in the State Attorney’s Office. The exact details of the criminal activity committed by the seven defendants were barred from publication by the court.

The State Attorney’s Office requested that the court keep four of the defendants in detention until the end of legal proceedings against them, and requested restricted release conditions against the other three.

Separately, multiple people were indicted for smuggling goods into the Gaza Strip on Monday.

In one case, a lieutenant in the IDF was indicted for smuggling contraband........

© The Times of Israel