Testimony of the Defendant (Transcript of January 23, 2023)
Main Inquiry
- The defendant testified that Yossi did not perform brick work for him in the years 2014-2016 (p. 500). Yossi worked for the IPS as a subcontractor in 2014 and 2015. He denied that he dictated to Yossi the pricing of work in an IPS project he carried out under the main contractor from Aleppo ("Lie, I don't deal with a subcontractor and tell him how much to give...") (p. 501). He denied handing over the check to Yossi ("False, I don't meet with subcontractors, I don't deal with money, I don't know what the calculation is between a main contractor and a subcontractor") (p. 501). He denied that he told Yossi that the check also included the payment for the private work ("It's not true, I didn't have a private job during that period and I don't deal with the check") (p. 501). He knew Yossi as a contractor, but there was no work relationship with him in 2015.
He saw Yossi doing work at the Prison Service, and is not sure where it was (p. 502). He has documentation from 2017 that there are no bricks in his house (but the defendant did not present any such documentation) (p. 501).
Cross-examination (transcript of March 22, 2023)
- Yossi carried out the brick work in his home in 2017 and not before that (pp. 576-577). The prosecutor referred him to his police interrogation on November 5, 2018, in which he stated that Yossi had worked for him in his home in 2015, but the defendant insisted in his testimony that Yossi had made 4 meters of bricks in his home in 2017, on the same occasion when he renovated the building's lobby (p. 577). As for the contradiction between his statement to the police and his version in his testimony, he claimed that "in the interrogation you behave a little differently" (p. 578).
- The defendant rejected the claim that he had inflated the price quote for a project carried out by Yossi under the main contractor from Aleppo, for which he received a check for NIS 60, 170, and also claimed that he was not sure that the order from Mahalab was in his district (p. 578). He also rejected Yossi's claim that the payment was also supposed to cover the private work (p. 578). To the question of whether Yossi had an interest in incriminating him, he answered in the affirmative and detailed that Yossi sued him for not paying him and that the parties had reached an agreement (pp. 578-579).
Charge 11 - The accuser's summaries
- The accuser bases her arguments on the testimony of Yossi, who confirmed that the defendant dictated a price to him for one of the jobs in the IPS and told him that the amount of the check for that job included the payment for his private work. The accuser claims that Yossi's version, which could have gotten him into criminal trouble, is reliable and devoid of interests. The testimony is also supported by Yossi's accounting card (P/40).
- The defendant contradicted himself in his interrogations regarding Yossi's employment in his home. In the main interrogation, the defendant denied that Yossi worked in his home between the years 2014-2016, while in his interrogation with the police (P/3B) he confirmed and explained that Yossi worked in his home by gluing bricks in 2015.
- Yossi was not aware in advance that the defendant would pay his personal debt in this way, as opposed to other charges in which the defendant planned this in advance with his accomplices. For this reason, the defendant was not charged with bribery in this incident, but only with theft by a public servant and breach of trust.
Charge 11 - Defense Summaries
- The defense denies what is stated in this indictment. The defendant contacted Yossi after he received recommendations from parties other than the IPS, for the purpose of private work in his home. Subsequently, Yossi performed the private work in the defendant's home. The defendant denied that Yossi worked for the IPS in direct or indirect contact with him, and claimed that Yossi worked on various projects, as a laborer, for subcontractors who were not connected to the defendant in any project or in any way. The defense referred to the fact that Yossi claimed in his interrogation that he had performed work for the contractor "Abu Jafar Ltd.", when the defense claimed that he was a subcontractor.
- Yossi carried out the brick work in the defendant's home in 2017, and not in 2015 as alleged in the indictment. In May 2017, the residents of the building where the defendant lives decided to renovate the lobby and approached the defendant, who recommended Yossi to carry out the renovation. At the same time as the renovation, the defendant asked Yossi for a price quote for gluing 4.5 square meters of bricks in his house. Yossi gave a price quote of NIS 3,000 plus VAT. Yossi carried out the renovation in the lobby and in the defendant's home, but refused to give invoices for the work. Therefore, the defendant paid Yossi in cash, without VAT, the sum of NIS 3,000 for the brick work. Yossi also received payment in cash (NIS 4,000) for the renovation in the lobby.
- It was also noted that in the summer of 2018, the defendant and Yossi agreed on an additional renovation of the defendant's home (in the room).
- of the son), but Yossi did not finish the renovation and the dispute between the parties reached the court. It was argued that a legal proceeding would not have been opened if there had been a basis for the charge against the defendant.
Charge 11 - Hearing
- In his testimony, Yossi described his acquaintance with the defendant, his relationship as a subcontractor with the defendant, the lack of contact with other IPS officials and with main contractors, the private work he performed at the defendant's home and the defendant's promise to pay him at a later date, as well as the circumstances of the incident in which the defendant handed him a check from the main contractor from Aleppo for work at the IPS and explained to him that the check included a payment of NIS 3,000 for the private work. Yossi clarified in his testimony that he was supposed to receive a sum of about NIS 58,000 for his work in the IPS, and that he was surprised to receive a check of NIS 60,070 and to hear that the sum included payment for the private work. He described in an authentic manner the fear of losing his salary of approximately NIS 58,000 if he refused to accept the check, and that he felt that the situation had been forced upon him. Among other things, Yossi noted that this was not the first check he had received from the defendant. I am of the opinion that Yossi's testimony should be trusted. I was impressed by the authenticity of his testimony, and I also took into account the fact that in his testimony against the defendant he was also complicating himself, contrary to his personal interest. I will add that his testimony is consistent with other testimonies that have been heard, regarding the defendant's being in contact with subcontractors in the framework of his position, as well as regarding the dictation of prices by the defendant.
- On the other hand, the defendant's testimony, according to which Yossi performed brickwork in his home in 2017 and not before, contradicts his statements in his interrogation with the police, in which he confirmed that Yossi had already done the work in his home in 2015. The defendant's words ("In the interrogation you behave a little differently") do not explain this contradiction. The defendant claimed that he had proof that there were no bricks in his home as of 2017, but that he did not present such documentation, and hence the defendant was unable to prove the allegation.
The defendant's claims that he does not "deal" with subcontractors, does not meet with them, and does not "deal" with their checks should also be rejected. This is because the hearing of the previous charges revealed that the defendant was definitely in contact with subcontractors and gave them checks from the main contractors.
- In the summaries of the defense, it was argued that Yossi was not a subcontractor, but rather a worker who worked under other subcontractors and without any connection to the defendant. However, this claim did not arise during the testimony of the defendant, who referred to Yossi as a subcontractor. Thus, when asked if he had given Yossi a check, he denied this and explained that he did not meet with subcontractors (the relevant quotes were quoted above in the defendant's testimony). In its arguments, the defense referred to the fact that Yossi claimed in his interrogation that he had performed work for the contractor "Abu Jafar Ltd.", when according to the defense, he was a subcontractor. In this regard, it should be mentioned that this charge deals with work performed for the IPS, when the entity that is under the IPS and is responsible for Yossi is the Mahlab Company, when there is no dispute that Mahlab is the main contractor (see, for example, indictment 3). I will add that the claim that Yossi is only a worker is inconsistent with the fact that Yossi issued a receipt tax invoice against the payment he received, and it was not even raised during Yossi's testimony.
- I do not believe that the fact that Yossi insisted on his right to receive payment in the amount of tens of thousands of new shekels for his work and sued the defendant in 2018, testifies that there is no basis for the charge against the defendant. I do not see a connection between the two things.
- As the accuser explained in her summaries, in this charge the defendant was not charged with the offense of bribery, but of fraud and breach of trust. Section 284 of the Penal Law states:
"A public servant who commits an act of fraud or breach of trust that harms the public in the performance of his duties, even if the act would not have been an offense if it had been committed against an individual, shall be sentenced to imprisonment for three years."