Ephraim Bracha, head of the Israel Police Fraud Investigation Unit, committed suicide overnight Saturday, Israel daily Haaretz reported.
Bracha was a central figure in a corruption scandal involving Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto. Bracha testified that Pinto offered him bribes totaling hundreds of thousands of shekels in exchange for information about other investigations. Last April, Pinto admitted to bribing Bracha in a Tel Aviv district court, as part of a plea bargain.
A week ago, Channel 10 published that the Israel Police internal affairs unit was investigating claims that Bracha passed information along to suspects targeted by other investigations. The Channel 10 report included claims from Pinto attesting to Bracha's conduct, and the internal affairs unit announced that a criminal investigation into Bracha could follow.
Pinto was indicted in September last year on charges that he gave about 400,000 shekels ($100,000) in bribes to Bracha. The two have known each other since 2007.