Israeli police questioned Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for 4 hours
Tuesday as a witness in a bribery investigation against a longtime
aide.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Olmert was questioned by
the police's unit in charge of bribery investigations. He said
Olmert was not a suspect in the case against Shula Zaken.
"Olmert gave testimony for four hours in the fraud investigation
in the Tax Authority scandal," Rosenfeld said.
Police suspect that Zaken, Olmert's longtime personal assistant,
arranged jobs in the Israeli Tax Authority in return for tax breaks
for her brother. The case is part of a wider investigation against
senior tax officials who are suspected of granting tax breaks to
businessmen in exchange for bribes.
Zaken has been suspended from her job for six months while
police conduct their investigation.
"The prime minister gave testimony today to police concerning
his period as minister of finance," said an official in Olmert's
office, speaking on condition of anonymity because the
investigation is ongoing. Olmert served as finance minister before
becoming prime minister in January 2006.
During his long political career, Olmert has been dogged by
allegations of corruption, but never charged. Currently, police are
investigating his real-estate dealings and his role in the
government's sale of a majority interest in a bank while he was
finance minister in 2005.
The Zaken case is the latest in a series of scandals involving
Israeli public officials.
?
Olmert's finance minister has been accused of embezzlement and his
justice minister was forced to resign and convicted of sexual
misconduct for forcibly kissing a young female soldier.
During a recent interview, Olmert complained that he felt he and
his associates were being hounded by a "platoon of
investigators."
In another case, President Moshe Katsav is facing possible
indictment on charges of rape and other serious offenses against
employees. Katsav has denied all wrongdoing.
(China Daily via agencies April 11, 2007)
