Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron, a former chief rabbi of Israel, has been charged with taking part in a multi-million-shekel fraud.

According to the Times of Israel, the suspected scam involved the issuing of false rabbinic credentials to over 1,000 civil servants, allowing them to collect bonuses of NIS 2,000-4,000 a month.

Bakshi-Doron served as Sephardi chief rabbi of Israel from 1998 to 2003 and, as head of the Chief Rabbinical Council of Israel, was responsible for handing out rabbinic credentials.