Olmert faces new allegations

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"Authorities in Israel say Ehud Olmert is suspected of double billing trips abroad and pocketing the extra money.

In a joint statement released Friday, the Israeli Justice Ministry and the police sad that the prime minister is suspected of taking money from multiple organizations to pay for the same trips abroad and then using the excess money to cover family vacations, Ha'aretz reported. The trips in question took place when Olmert was mayor of Jerusalem and later trade minister.

The statement -- released after Olmert's thrid round of questioning with police -- also said that several weeks ago the attorney general approved a widening of the criminal investigation into whether Olmert received illegal funds.

The latest allegations regarding trips are apparently unrelated to suspicions that Olmert received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Rabbi Morris Talansky, a New York businessman."

http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/109426.html


MKs slam Olmert, urge him to quit

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3567004,00.html

MK Orlev: PM should have quit a long time ago; MK Gal-On: Mazuz should suspend Olmert

<snip>

"Olmert under fire from all directions: Knesset members from both sides of the political spectrum slammed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Friday over new suspicions against him announced by police, calling on the PM to quit his post.

National Religious Party Chairman Zevulon Orlev said "the new suspicions constitute yet another dark cloud on top of the heavy clouds hovering above his head. In an enlightened country he would have resigned a long time ago."

"We cannot accept the fact that a leader is dealing with saving his own skin day and night…at the expense of the country's citizens," he said."

<snip>

"The latest suspicions against Olmert "reinforce the demand that he fight for his innocence as a private citizen, rather than as a prime minister," Meretz Chairman Haim Oron said, while MK Shelly Yacimovich (Labor) called on the prime minister to resign immediately.

The PM "should not wait for his dismissal in the September primaries, but rather, announce his resignation immediately. The Israeli public is entitled to have a prime minister who is not facing criminal suspicions," she said."

[Scurrilous]

1. Olmert suspected of defrauding state, charities to fund trips abroad

<snip>

"Israel Police and the Justice Ministry released a joint statement Friday saying that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is suspected of asking a number of different public organizations, and the state, to pay for the same trips abroad. The money was then allegedly used for family holidays."

<snip>

"The statement says that the latest suspicions pertain to Olmert's stint as Jerusalem mayor and his time as minister of industry and trade, during which he allegedly asked for and received the money from organizations primarily in Israel and primarily involved in public activity.

According to the suspicions, Olmert's travel agency, Rishon Tours, allegedly sent invoices to each organization who gave money for the same flights, as though each had been the only contributor.

Each body then had its own receipt that it had funded the trip, and the surplus money - apparently a substantial amount - was allegedly deposited in a private bank account in Olmert's name, which was handled by the same travel agency. The suspicion is that these funds were then used to pay for private trips abroad for Olmert and his family. On some occasions, Olmert's wife and children traveled on their own. Police say Olmert amassed close to $100,000 in the private bank account over the course of many years.

Among the agencies which allegedly funded Olmert's trips are AKIM, a charity geared towards aiding mentally disabled children; ALEH, a group that cares for physically challenged children; Yad Vashem; the Simon Wiesenthal Center; and American Friends of the IDF."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1001250.html

[bemildred]

2. Israeli PM faces fraud probe

Israeli police have accused Ehud Olmert of fraud and said that an investigation into whether the prime minister received illegal payments from an American businessman has been widened to probe other suspected improprieties.

The police statement came as investigators on Friday questioned Olmert at his official Jerusalem residence for two hours.

Police and judicial sources say the case, which broke two months ago when detectives moved to question Olmert on short notice, involves hundreds of thousands of dollars in questionable cash payments over a decade from the early 1990s.

The police and the justice ministry said in a joint statement issued after investigators questioned Olmert for the third time, that "the prime minister was asked to give his account about suspicions of serious fraud and other offences".

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2008/07/200871112104504707.html

[LeftishBrit]

3. Olmert is an idiot and probably a crook (I say 'probably' because he hasn't been tried yet)

and he's a rotten PM; but I still worry that if he's chucked out, he'll be replaced by Netanyahu! Not a good prospect. Possibly that's why he hasn't been forced out yet.

[pelsar]

4. i think the crook part is obvious...

how does simple politician starting off with very little...end of so rich?

it may seem strange but in israel when the PMs get a second chance they sometimes get better...Rabin being a good example. I certainly dont like Netanyaho, especially for his economics (hes responsible for an incredible rich/poor gap in israel), at the same time he may very well get elected and though i wont be voting for him, it doesnt necessarily mean he will be bad... i prefer politicians that at least believe in their "calling" to push the country forward, even i disagree with them...... olmert interest is his back pocket.



the reason olmert isnt gone yet, is that no one really wants the circus of elections again......

[LeftishBrit]

6. I don't know...

Perhaps it's because I've had too much experience in my own country with politicians who 'believed in their calling to push the country forward' - i.e. Thatcher and Blair - but I don't necessarily take that as good in itself. It depends on what they think *will* push the country forward. Sometimes they may push their country forward all right - push it off a cliff!

Though I agree that corrupt politicians are disgusting.

[Scurrilous]

5. Olmert's woes raise questions of ties to US Jews

<snip>

"A New York fundraiser and a Las Vegas gambling czar have become major headaches for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, raising new questions about the relationship between Jewish Americans and the Jewish state.

While Israel has had close ties with the U.S. Jewish community throughout its history, some wealthy American donors have extended their influence to Israel's halls of power, crossing what many Israelis see as a red line. The cases of fundraiser Morris Talansky and casino mogul Sheldon Adelson have drawn new attention to this sometimes blurry relationship.

Talansky's testimony that he handed Olmert cash-stuffed envelopes in the years before he became prime minister is at the center of a scandal that may topple the Israeli leader. Olmert's lawyers are set to cross-examine Talansky on Thursday.

Adelson, meanwhile, has launched a newspaper that makes no bones about its disgust with Olmert.

Neither man is suspected of anything illicit. But there is an important similarity. Both have chosen to move beyond philanthropy to political activism, using their money to influence decision-making in a country they love but which is not their home."

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