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Last update - 18:04 29/08/2008
Police quiz Olmert's wife on purchase of Jerusalem home
By Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Ehud Olmert, corruption 

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was questioned under caution for two and a half hours at his Jerusalem residence on Friday, his seventh police interrogation in recent months. Police also quizzed Olmert's wife Aliza for the first time on the purchase of a Jerusalem house.

The prime minister and his wife are suspected of purchasing an apartment on Cremieux Street in Jerusalem at a discounted price and granting benefits in turn to the real estate firm which brokered the deal.

Police officials declined to discuss the focus of Friday's interrogation, but it is thought Olmert will be questioned again in connection with political appointments he made at the Small Business Authority while he was minister of industry, trade and employment.
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Olmert was asked about those appointments for the first time last week, after investigators wrapped up some loose ends in the Talansky and Rishon Tours cases. Sources familiar with the investigation said on Thursday that the police may still have more questions for Olmert on Friday in those other cases.

Olmert's interrogation last week lasted three and a half hours, and was described by his associates as "easygoing."

The political appointments case against Olmert is one of the most important. Senior law enforcement officials said that the material gathered to date is solid, and that the investigation might yield an indictment against the prime minister.

However, one official conceded that this investigation is far more convoluted than the others, and it remains unclear how much more time will be needed.

In any event, within a few weeks the police will hand over to the State Prosecutor's Office the materials in the Talansky and Rishon Tours affairs, and will apparently recommend indicting Olmert in those cases.

Investigators have made significant progress in recent weeks in the case of appointments at the Small Business Authority, and are now in a position to collect Olmert's statement.

A month ago, fraud squad investigators arrested Olmert's former adviser at the Industry, Trade and Employment Ministry, Eldad Rothman, who was questioned under caution and released to house arrest. Another of Olmert's advisers from that period, Cabinet Secretary Oved Yehezkel, was interrogated a week later.

Related articles:
  • Olmert to be questioned under caution for sixth time
  • Talansky to be questioned in U.S. over role in suspected Olmert graft
  • In Talansky case, Olmert's bonds with cronies beginning to crack
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