Two lawyers were remanded in custody by a Tel Aviv magistrate over the weekend, bringing to eight the number of suspects arrested during the past six weeks in connection with a West Bank land fraud scandal.
The lawyers, Sami Mualem and Uri Ben-Yehuda, are believed to have abetted the illegal acquisition of land from elderly Arabs in the territory. According to the police, they approved forged powers of attorney used to transfer land without the true owners’ knowledge Police said the forged documents were found in the lawyers’ offices.
Forged sales documents were also found in the possession of three land dealers, Ahmad Ode, Yitzhak Yanai and Dina Jan, all of whom were arrested earlier. Police sources said the investigation is still in its early stages and more arrests were expected. A leading contractor and four other lawyers are reportedly under suspicion and will be questioned shortly.
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