Last update - 00:00 02/12/2007
State source: Bank Leumi case against Olmert not yet closed
By Yuval Yoaz
Sources in the State Prosecutor's Office said over the weekend that the criminal case into Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's role in the privatization of Bank Leumi has yet to be closed, distancing themselves from reports that State Prosecutor-designate Moshe Lador intends to adopt the police recommendation to close the investigation.
The sources noted that Lador has not seen the investigative material against Olmert and therefore could not have formulated any opinion in the matter.
The sources suggested that reports regarding the ostensible intention to close the case were circulated by interested individuals, who wish to generate a public atmosphere that would pressure Lador into closing the case.
The State Prosecutor's Office has made it abundantly clear that not only has no decision been made in the matter, but also they do not intend to rely unduly on the police's recommendation. The officials who handle the case will reach a decision based on a legal analysis of the evidence gathered - an analysis for which the prosecution is more expertly suited than the police investigators, sources said.
Last Thursday, the head of the economic-fiscal department at the State Prosecutor's Office, Avia Alef, received the case material, along with a document summarizing the investigation and the police's recommendation, and began processing the material in preparation for writing her own opinion, to be placed on Lador's desk when he assumes his post. The current phase in the process is expected to take several weeks at least.
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