Four rabbis were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of fraud, breach of trust, falsifying documents, and impersonation, in connection to unlawful practices they allegedly employed in applying for municipal chief rabbi positions.

The Jerusalem Post has learned that the rabbis ran or are running for the chief rabbi jobs in the cities of Nesher, Pardess Hanna, Lod and Beit Shemesh. The police have not released the names of the rabbis who were arrested.

According to the police, the rabbis were arrested on suspicion of fraudulently obtaining qualification certificates that would enable them to stand for municipal chief rabbi positions.

The police stated that the four rabbis in question are each suspected of one or some of the following offenses: obtaining an ordination certificate fraudulently, without having taken the exams; falsifying the registration of test scores; sending someone else to take the exams for them; making contact with the exam marker to try to persuade him to mark their papers more leniently.