Last update - 00:00 29/09/2006
Property developer rebuts allegation that Olmert took bribe
By Zvi Zrahiya, Haaretz Correspondent
An attorney for the property developer that sold a Jerusalem house to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is rebutting allegations that Olmert received a bribe by selling the property at less than its real value.
The attorney, Navot Tel-Tzur, has presented the State Comptroller's Office with "dramatic" evidence that two parties had made an offer on the same property for $1.1 million - about $100,000 less than the price for which Olmert bought the 8 Cremieux Street property. The two interested parties were offered the same property approximately a month before Olmert and his wife, Aliza, acquired the home in 2004.
State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss began an examination Thursday of the new evidence.
The comptroller's office has been investigating allegations that Olmert purchased the home at Cremieux Street for $320,000 less than the market value of the property. It is also investigating whether Olmert, in exchange, influenced officials at the Jerusalem municipality to grant Alumot irregular construction permits for the property in question. Olmert had completed a 10-year stint as mayor of Jerusalem in 2003.
The property, which is a protected historical site, was originally limited to 350 square meters of construction. However, the developer wished to expand this limit to 750 square meters, which required special permits.
Investigators from the anti-corruption unit in the comptroller's office questioned the prime minister over his real estate dealings for 45 minutes on Monday. Lindenstrauss is expected to decide in the near future whether the investigation's findings should be passed on to the attorney general's office so that the police can open a criminal investigation.