Shmuel Flatto-Sharon, a former Knesset member who used parliamentary immunity to avoid extradition to France, was ordered held in custody for six days Friday by a Tel Aviv magistrate.
The police accuse him of fraud and the embezzlement of $9 million from Swiss firms, conspiracy to commit a crime and passing bad checks.
He also is believed to be under investigation for his alleged involvement in large-scale, illegal currency transfers, via the administered territories, to Europe.
Flatto-Sharon, still a fugitive from French justice, was arrested Thursday at his luxurious villa in the fashionable Savyon suburb of Tel Aviv. His arrest culminated a six-month police investigation of which few details have been released.
Police who searched his home Thursday hauled out crates of documents. They reportedly found a small quantity of hashish and unlicensed firearms. Flatto-Sharon cooperated in the search, opening his safes for the police. Three of his associates have also been detained.
Flatto-Sharon, once described as a multimillionaire, fled to Israel from France in the late 1970s to escape arrest on charges of embezzlement and fraud.
Extradition proceedings were under way when Flatto-Sharon managed to get himself elected to the Knesset, where he sat as a one-man independent faction. Many said he bought the votes in order to enjoy parliamentary immunity.
He served one term and was later disqualified on grounds of election fraud.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
