Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto Convicted of bribery

Arutz 7

The Tel Aviv District Court convicted Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto, head of the Shuvu Yisrael sect, on Tuesday morning, after he confessed to bribery as part of a plea bargain. 

Pinto arrived for his arraignment early Tuesday and signed a confession according to the terms of the plea bargain; he has been convicted on charges of bribery, attempted bribery and the obstruction of justice. 

The conviction follows multiple attempts by Pinto and his legal team to prevent him arriving in Israel for the arraignment, and a heart attack scare on Monday that led him to be taken to Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv upon landing. 

Pinto allegedly attempted to bribe senior police officer Ephraim Bracha with $200,000 for information about a pending police investigation into the Hazon Yeshaya charity organization, which Pinto was rumored to be closely involved with. Bracha immediately reported the incident to his superiors, prompting a separate investigation against Rabbi Pinto himself. [...]