A Haifa court has extended the detention of an Israel Police officer and his brother, who are suspected of a gold bar theft worth hundreds of thousands of shekels.
The Haifa Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday extended the detention of an Israel Police officer, who is suspected of being involved in the theft of gold bars worth hundreds of thousands of shekels.
The theft occured last Monday, and police officers are conducting an investigation, along with the Justice Ministry’s Police Investigation Department (PID).
The officer and his brother, both from Peki’in, were arrested on Monday.
The main suspect in the case is believed to have already fled Israel, and two others, including a gold expert, were arrested last week.
PID has attributed a series of serious offenses to the officer, including theft, robbery, car theft, aggravated assault, obstruction of investigations, incitement in investigations, and conspiracy to commit a crime.
An illustration of a thief stealing gold bars (credit: LightField Studios. Via Shutterstock)
‘Just an innocent driver,’ defense attorney argues
“He did not get out of the vehicle and made no contact with the victim – he was just an innocent driver,” his defense attorney argued.
However, a judge agreed with PID that there were reasonable grounds to extend the detention by three days.
The brother’s detention was also extended, with both being scheduled to appear before a judge on Thursday, unless they are released beforehand.
