New Probe of Former PM Ehud Olmert in Full Swing
by JNS.org
JNS.org – The Israeli Police National Fraud Unit on Monday questioned former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert—convicted of corruption last week—on suspicion of obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and suborning perjury in the Holyland trial.
The new allegations arose from tapes given to the State Attorney’s Office by Olmert’s former bureau chief, Shula Zaken, as part of a plea bargain she signed in the Holyland case, Israel Hayom reported.
A police source said Olmert has yet to be confronted with the information included on the tapes, and was asked what was described as “general questions about the various investigations held into his affairs over the past few years.”
The “Zaken diaries,” as they are now known, are journals in which Zaken documented various details concerning two other criminal cases for which she was named as Olmert’s co-defendant—the first involving cash payments Olmert allegedly received from American businessman Morris Talansky, and the second involving the fraudulent use of a double-billing system concerning his travels. The journals were excluded from the Holyland trial since Zaken exercised her right to remain silent.