Last update - 00:00 21/11/2007
Police to decide Sunday whether Olmert should be indicted for fraud
By Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondent
The team of detectives investigating Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's possible corruption in the sale of Bank Leumi is expected to decide by Sunday whether the evidence gathered in the case justifies charging him.
Olmert, who was serving as finance minister at the time of the sale, is suspected of interfering in the privatization of the bank to benefit a friend.
The team of detectives from the National Fraud Investigation Unit will hold a hearing on the matter with head of police investigations and intelligence Major General Yohanan Danino, and will subsequently make their conclusions public.
After a decision is reached, the case file and the evidence included in it will be handed over to the prosecution.
Sources involved in the investigation reported that the decision whether or not to indict the prime minister will be influenced by the legal recommendations of the police and the state prosecution regarding how strongly they believe the evidence could lead to a fraud conviction.
Earlier this month, police investigators questioned Olmert twice over suspicions of corruption. The second interview, which lasted less than four hours, is expected to conclude the police investigation.
After assessing the evidence in the case, the investigators will decide whether or not to recommend to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz to indict the prime minister on corruption charges.
Olmert, who underwent questioning under caution at his official residence in Jerusalem last month, is suspected of trying to influence the tender in the proposed sale of the controlling share of Bank Leumi in favor of his friend, Australian tycoon Frank Lowy.
Investigators arrived early at the residence on Balfour Street where Olmert gave the officers, headed by Brigadier General Shlomi Ayalon, his version of events regarding the suspicions against him in the Bank Leumi tender.
The investigators sought answers to suspicions Olmert altered the conditions of the tender on the basis of requests of Lowy's aides prior to the publication of the document.
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