Prosecutors allege that Sara Netanyahu stuck taxpayers with her tabs from the priciest restaurants in Jerusalem<\/b>
\nIsraeli prosecutors filed charges of aggravated fraud and breach of trust Thursday against the wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who stands accused of misspending more than $100,000 worth of taxpayer funds on opulent meals catered to the pair’s official residence.
Sara Netanyahu has been formally charged with defrauding the Israel in a case called the \u201cMeals Ordering Affair,\u201d which also alleges that the prime minister’s wife illegally paid private cooks a sum of $10,000.
The charges, which according to CNN could land the prime minister’s wife in prison for as much as eight years, marks the latest in a slew of controversies surrounding Israel’s most powerful couple, including a possible indictment for bribery charges against Benjamin Netanyahu himself.
The prime minister’s wife has also previously been accused of mistreating her domestic employees. One former employee claims she feared for her safety in the Netanyahu residence after the prime minister’s wife allegedly screamed at her, \u201cYou\u2019re a lump of nothing!\u201d Meni Naftali, Sara Netanyahu’s former chief caretaker, also won a wrongful termination lawsuit involving allegations of abusive and erratic behavior.
In September 2017, Israel\u2019s attorney general first went public with his intention to charge Sara Netanyahu. The prime minister’s wife, who has been repeatedly accused of indulging in a lavish lifestyle, was once dubbed „Israel’s Marie Antoinette.“
„Particularly damaging was Naftali\u2019s allegation to an employment court that Sara Netanyahu was often drunk, consuming up to three bottles of champagne a day, a claim denied by the Netanyahus,“ the Guardian reported .
In the new indictment filed Thursday, prosecutors allege that Sara Netanyahu stuck taxpayers with her bills from the priciest eateries in the city of Jerusalem from 2009 to 2013. CNN further reports:
Ezra Saidoff, the former deputy director-general of the prime minister\u2019s office, is also facing related charges of breach of trust, forgery and fraud, according to CNN. Prosecutors allege that Saidoff colluded with Sara Netanyahu to keep the illegal meal payments and invoices under wraps.
The hiring of outside catering is not illegal in the eyes of Israeli law \u2013 nor is using state funds to pay waiters or food-staff \u2013 when there is not a chef assigned to the Prime Minister\u2019s residence. However, the Netanyahu household was equipped with a cook, which allegedly Israeli taxpayers on the hook for the tab.
Sara Netanyahu\u2019s legal team claims the allegations brought forth against the prime minister’s wife are both \u201cfalse and hallucinatory.\u201d
\u201cIt’s the first time in Israel and in the world that the wife of a leader is put on trial for food entrees,“ Sara Netanyahu\u2019s lawyers said in a statement to CNN. „There was no fraud, no breach of trust or any other felony. The food was not for the Netnayahu family, but for other people, including workers in the residence. We’re certain in the end that justice will speak. Truth and logic will prevail.“<\/p>\n

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