Last update - 00:00 05/10/2006
Former President's Residence director general accused of rape
By Yuval Yoaz and Roni Singer-Heruti, Haaretz Correspondent
The Yarkon District Police on Thursday received a complaint from a woman accusing the former director general of the President's Residence of rape.
The woman told police that attorney Amos Maimon had raped her a few years ago. A second woman is also in the process of filing a similar complaint with police.
In an interview with Haaretz, Maimon denied the accusations and said he filed a complaint against the two women for extortion and blackmail.
"I filed a complaint with the police against these women," Maimon said. "I never raped anybody but at a time when the president is under investigation they are trying to stitch me up. I have no idea what this is about."
"I have rivals," Maimon said. "Maybe they think I'm against the president or against other people."
Police are investigating the claims of both sides, and are updating the staff working on the case involving Katsav.
In the coming days, police are expected to summon Maimon for questioning.
On entering the President's Residence in 2000, Katsav appointed Maimon director general. Several weeks later, the local Jerusalem periodical "Kol Ha'ir" published an investigative report on the attorney.
The report indicated that several years earlier, a file was opened on Maimon on an alleged indecent assault, but a charge was never laid.
The report also claimed Maimon did not report the complaint while completing official documents required of prospective President's Residence directors general.
An investigation conducted by the state commissioner found that Maimon also failed to report a police file on aggravated assault in a public place.
Following the release of the report, Maimon resigned from his position, but a judicial consultant to the government said that the attorney's failure to report previous allegations against him did not constitute a crime.