Ehud Olmert was convicted for bribery after previously being acquitted. Photo Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert was convicted for bribery in a retrial at the Jerusalem District Court after previously being acquitted. Olmert was found guilty of accepting illegal payments from an American businessman in 2012 based on new evidence reviewed by the court.

The court ruled that Olmert received about $600,000 from Morris Talansky while he was mayor of Jerusalem, and additional funds while he served as a cabinet minister. The court did not rule, however, that Olmert used the money for any illegal activities.

“In light of the new evidence, we have changed our conclusion… The defendant was obligated to report that cash to the state comptroller. Failure to report precluded any oversight and thus a causative connection was established. His (Olmert’s) efforts to convince (Olmert aid Shula) Zaken to say the money was a campaign fund indicate that he knew what he was doing,” the three judges who made the ruling wrote in their decision, according to Israel Hayom.

In March 2014, Olmert was found guilty on different bribery charges, for accepting $160,000 from the developers of the massive Holyland apartment complex in Jerusalem while he was mayor.