Israel’s ex-con minister grilled in fresh corruption probe

JERUSALEM – Israel’s interior minister and his wife are reportedly among 16 people who were interrogated by Israel police in a major corruption probe.

Police say 16 people were taken in for questioning on Monday in the investigation into tax evasion and real estate crimes. Israeli media report that Deri and his wife were grilled by the police’s high-profile crimes unit for at least 10 hours over suspected wrongdoing.

Aryeh Deri was previously sentenced to three years in prison for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in 2000 during his previous stint as interior minister in the 1990s. He served 22 months in prison, but made a political comeback and retook the reins of the religious Shas party in 2013.

Details of the case are under a police gag order.