The District Court's verdict detailed the aggravating circumstances regarding the third incident: the defendant's attempt to leverage his connections and influence in the Ministry of Tourism for the purpose of generating personal profits, as part of a general method of action he adopted for himself; the pattern of action that was expressed in an attempt to disguise, in real time, sophistication, cunningly, and manipulatively, the real transaction that the defendant sought to concoct, by means of fictitious agreements for the provision of services that did not exist and were not created; advance and meticulous planning of the event; and being the thinker, initiator, and executor of all the acts of transgression. Despite these aggravating circumstances, the sentence was imposed on Below half of the complex, that is, less than 15 months in prison. After the Supreme Court reduced the overall sentence by 40%, the penalty for the third incident, which included attempted bribery, forgery of a document under aggravated circumstances, and false registration in corporate documents, was as follows: Less than 9 months in prison.
In our case, on the other hand, the offense of attempted bribery is not accompanied by additional offenses of the felony type; The allegation of Fisher's systematic conduct was deleted from the amended indictment; The same is true of the allegation of fraud on his part towards Hassan; There is no description of prior planning on Fisher's part; And there is a lack of clarity on the question of whether Fischer intended to transfer to the policeman all the bribe money he tried to receive from Machsen. As for the initiative, the events began with Malka's letter to Fischer, in which Malka told Fischer about the undercover investigation being conducted against Hassan, the details of the investigation, and his intention to recommend the closure of the "Mishuk Affair" and the "Arbitration Affair," without Fischer initiating these actions.
(b) Criminal Appeal 8618/19 State of Israel v. Miller (31.3.2022) - The case of fundraising by the mayor of Ashkelon to finance the payment of compensation for sexual assault. In order to raise the funds, the mayor turned to his brother and close associate, Moshe Ponte. The two worked to raise funds with the mayor's knowledge, including ventures and contractors operating in the city (two of whom were prosecuted). The District Court acquitted Ponte of bribery, and instead convicted him and the mayor of breach of trust for transferring NIS 100,000 from one of the contractors to Ponte for the mayor. In another charge, the mayor and Ponte were convicted of breach of trust in respect of funds received by the mayor without ascertaining their source. Ponte was sentenced to 9 months in prison to be served by way of community service. The Supreme Court accepted the state's appeal with the consent of the parties, and convicted Ponte of bribery. For this offense and the offense of breach of trust together in the additional charge, he was sentenced to 14 months in prison, minus the days of his detention.