An investigation team mapped out money trails from Yonatan Urich and Eli Feldstein, the main suspects in the "Qatargate" case, back to Doha, KAN News reported on Saturday.
Urich is an adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Feldstein is a former Prime Minister’s Office military spokesman.
The team analyzed bank accounts, data extracted from the suspects' phones, testimonies, and additional evidence to discover how the transfer of funds occurred, KAN stated.
Feldstein's trail allegedly leads back to Gil Birger and Jay Footlik, and originated from the Qatari government, the investigation claimed.
Urich's trail, which appears to be older, active since 2022, and continuing into 2024 after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas War, also originated from the Qatari government and passed through another company to a former Mossad operative, the investigation alleges.
From there, funds were allegedly transferred to a company called Perception, owned by Srulik Einhorn. Urich notably serves as a senior advisor to the company, KAN reported.
This money was allegedly used in part to improve Qatar's global image, including through promoting the Qatar 2022 World Cup, the report adds. This effort to improve Qatar's image continued even after Hamas's October 7 Massacre, the report alleges.
Is there plausible deniability?
Given that the trail of money towards Urich passed through several more hands, especially compared to the more direct trail tracing back funds to Feldstein, there is more room for plausible deniability at each step on Urich's trail, KAN reported.
Yonatan Urich was arrested late Wednesday night after questioning and was released from detention on Thursday, but the decision was then overturned later that night.