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Shlomo Lahiani

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Shlomo Lahiani
שלמה לחיאני
Shlomo Lahiani
11th Mayor of Bat Yam
Personal details
Born (1965-05-22) 22 May 1965 (age 59)
Political partyKadima
Military service
AllegianceIsrael Israel

Shlomo Lahiani (Hebrew: שלמה לחיאני, born May 22, 1965) is a business owner and former Israeli politician. He was formerly mayor of Bat Yam. In 2014, following an investigation, Lahiani pleaded guilty to three counts of breach of public trust.[1][2]

Biography

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Shlomo Lahiani was born in Israel. His father was an immigrant from Bengazi, Libya.

Political career

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In 1997, he founded the independent political movement Bat Yam BeRosh Muram (Hebrew: בת ים בראש מורם, "Bat Yam with its head held high"). In 1998, the movement won five seats on the Bat Yam city council. He served as a city council member and leader of the opposition from 1998 until 2003, when he became mayor. he was first elected mayor as a Labour-backed independent in 2003 with 45% of the vote, beating the Likud candidate.[3][4] He was subsequently re-elected, with 86.3% of the vote, reportedly the highest ever in a large Israeli city, in 2008.[5]

Public activism

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In 2000, he founded Ohavim, a non-profit organization with the goal of improving welfare and child care, and managing soup kitchens in the city.

Controversy

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In December 2009, Lahiani was arrested on charges of fraud, breach of trust, embezzlement and following a two-year undercover investigation.[6] Lahiani was indicted in April 2013 with breach of trust.[7]

In a plea bargain reached in 2014, Lahiani pleaded guilty to three reduced charges of breach of trust.[1] On September 30, 2014, he was given six months of community service, as well as a six-month suspended sentence and a 250,000-shekel (US$67,840) fine, and barred from politics for seven years.[2] He admitted to using money from the bribes to pay debts of his construction company, Alshav.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b Baum, Ido (2014-05-09). "Bat Yam mayor plea bargain deal for all". Haaretz. Retrieved 2014-09-19.
  2. ^ a b c Lior, Ilan. "Convicted Bat Yam mayor banned from politics for 7 years". Haaretz. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  3. ^ "Lahiani stands as a Labour-backed independent". Haaretz. 2003-10-29. Retrieved 2009-11-21. [dead link]
  4. ^ "Likud loses control of several major cities". Haaretz. 2003-10-29. Retrieved 2009-11-21.[dead link]
  5. ^ "Who's your mayor? A look at the results of the '08 mayoral races". Haaretz. 2003-11-13. Archived from the original on 2008-11-25. Retrieved 2014-08-07.
  6. ^ Oster, Marcy (2009-12-29). "Israeli mayor arrested for fraud". JTA. Retrieved 2014-09-19.
  7. ^ Hovel, Revital (2009-04-23). "Prosecution: Bat Yam mayor to be indicted pending a hearing". Haaretz. Retrieved 2014-09-19.