JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s first lady was questioned by the Israel Police fraud investigation unit over suspected spending irregularities at the prime minister’s residence.
Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was questioned Thursday afternoon, despite a request by her attorney to close the investigation.
She reportedly was asked to detail her involvement in the running of the prime minister’s official residence in Jerusalem and testify as to whether state funds were used to pay for workers in their private residence in Caesarea, according to Haaretz.
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein in February announced his recommendation of a preliminary investigation into allegations of overspending following the release of the comptroller’s report noting that expenditures at the prime minister’s official residence in Jerusalem “do not conform to standards of reason, proportionality, economical management and efficiency.”
Weinstein also took issue with expenditures at Caesarea home.
He ordered the probe be postponed until after last March’s national elections; the criminal investigation began in July.
Sara Netanyahu also is believed to have pocketed thousands of dollars from deposits on bottles paid for by the state.
She was sued in March 2014 by a family caregiver over claims that she was abusive and in 2010 by the family’s housekeeper for withholding wages and verbal abuse.
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