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Olmert's Rishon Tours 'travel scam': How it was done By Gidi Weitz Tags: ehud olmert, israel news In February 2006, about a month after Ehud Olmert assumed the post of prime minister, his veteran external affairs adviser, Rachael Risby-Raz, drew up a document detailing Olmert's trips abroad in 2005, when he was minister of industry and trade. It was a clear, orderly chart. Next to each trip, Risby-Raz noted the minister's date of departure and return, his destinations and, most important of all, the names of the organizations that financed Olmert's extensive globe-trotting. The private trips by Olmert and his family also appear on the chart, which has never before been made public. Risby-Raz drew up a similar document every year. With a master's degree in international relations from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Risby-Raz, 34, has accompanied Olmert professionally since he was mayor of Jerusalem in the 1990s, when she served as his external relations liaison. She held a similar position when Olmert was appointed acting prime minister and minister of industry and trade in 2003, and when he was elected prime minister she became his diaspora affairs adviser. As he does with all his aides, Olmert forged a warm, close relationship with Risby-Raz. During the many years she worked with him, she also served as liaison to his numerous friends abroad. The Rishon Tours affair hit the headlines last June, when Attorney General Menachem Mazuz ordered the police to launch a criminal investigation against the prime minister on suspicion that he received money illegally during his tenures as mayor of Jerusalem, industry and trade minister and acting prime minister. The suspicion was that Olmert had a private account with Rishon Tours, a travel agency, into which money flowed from double- and even triple-billing of his trips abroad, money that came from the state and an array of public organizations. Olmert is alleged to have used the money that piled up in the account, about $85,000, to pay for dozens of private trips for him and members of his family. Advertisement Risby-Raz organized these trips. She was the liaison to the organizations that underwrote Olmert's trips abroad. She was in constant and direct contact with the travel agency. She asked its staff to provide her with double receipts. And it was she who insisted that the funding organizations meet Olmert's exacting standards: first-class seats and accommodation in luxury suites of deluxe hotels. "She always went out of her way to serve him," says a former coworker. Risby-Raz has given testimony to the police several times in this case. After one interrogation, and in reaction to reports about the case, she issued a trenchant public statement (as quoted in Haaretz English edition, July 13, 2008): "The prime minister is not a thief and is not a fraudster ... For the last 35 years he has fully committed himself to serving the country, and his contribution to the Jewish world is immense. I am honored to take part in this endeavor." After taking statements from her, the police decided to question her under caution, on suspicion that she was a party to her boss's suspected fraudulent behavior. From that moment, Risby-Raz invoked her right to remain silent. "In my opinion, they moved to questioning under caution so that they could obtain a crushing conviction of Olmert," says a Risby-Raz confidant. "But then she stopped talking and spoiled the prosecution's tactic." After the double-billing affair became public, Olmert's confidants claimed that if his trips abroad were paid for twice by various organizations, this was due only to the overload in his bureau and not to deliberate or malicious intent. However, the documents drawn up by Risby-Raz, which are being made public here for the first time, tell a somewhat different tale. Olmert's trips and their double billing were, it is suspected, documented by Risby-Raz with exemplary meticulousness. Every year the faithful adviser tallied up the payments that were made to Rishon Tours and calculated the state of the account. Olmert told the police that he was not familiar with the charts and had never seen them. He said he gave Risby-Raz only general instructions about his overseas travels, according to which the body that invited him would pay for the trip according to his rigid standards, including all accompanying expenses. He vehemently denied any double-billing. However, when Risby-Raz was asked by the police whom she prepared the charts for, she replied, "For Olmert." "Did he see them?" the interrogators asked. "I suppose so," she said. When the police informed Olmert of Risby-Raz's statements, he demanded that they set up a confrontation between them. The interrogators declined. Olmert's persistent denials of wrong-doing in connection with the overseas trips prompted interrogators to ask him how he thought the many private trips by him and his family had been paid for. He replied that to the best of his understanding the flights were paid for from "the hundreds of thousands of [frequent-flyer] miles" he had accumulated. Olmert is now preparing for the legal battle of his life. His confidants say he is determined to prove his innocence. Olmert does not intend to strike a deal with the state prosecution, but to wage a fight to the end. The first round will take place at the beginning of March, in the bureau of the attorney general, where Olmert's lawyers, Eli Zohar, Navot Telzur and Roy Blecher, will try to dissuade Mazuz from indicting him in the Rishon Tours case. The battle between the sides will focus less on the facts, most of which are not in dispute, than on the question of whether Olmert knew that the surplus funds that accumulated in his account with the travel agency as a result of the double billing were later used to pay for his and his family's private trips. Olmert's lawyers will have to persuade the attorney general that Risby-Raz acted on her own when she double billed organizations and then hid the maneuvers from the boss. They will have to prove that the orderly charts she prepared, which contain a precise report of the state of the account in the travel agency, were not intended for Olmert and that he did not see them. The suite life At the end of April 2003, Olmert flew to New York with his wife, Aliza. The peak of the visit was on the last day of the trip, at a moving personal event: the graduation ceremony of their son, Shaul, which took place in the theater of Madison Square Garden on May 12. Prior to that, Industry and Trade Minister Olmert had a busy schedule. For example, he took part in an Israel Bonds dinner held at the Hyatt Hotel in the city. According to the detailed records of Risby-Raz, the Israel Bonds organization paid $11,000 to finance the Olmerts' visit to New York. On the day after the Israel Bonds event, Olmert, who stayed in a suite at the luxurious St. Regis Hotel, attended another dinner, this one in honor of the Aleh Foundation, which benefits severely disabled Jewish children. According to the Risby-Raz records, Aleh also paid its part for the visit and bought Olmert a first-class ticket costing $5,675. "He was invited by our international friends' organizations," says Aleh director general Yehuda Marmorstein. "Olmert did a great deal for Aleh. He opened doors for us, introduced us to people and helped us with everything we asked." Between drinking toasts at an event in honor of Israel's Independence Day and going to the musical "Gypsy" on Broadway, Olmert also found time to meet with Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. At the time, Hier was one of the strategists behind the plan to build the grandiose Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem for an estimated cost of some $200 million. During that same New York visit, Olmert did some work on behalf of the museum, flying with Hier to Philadelphia and afterward taking part in meetings with various people to induce them to assist the Wiesenthal Center project. According to the Risby-Raz documents, Hier, too, paid $5,675 to fly Olmert to New York. Risby-Raz also notes that the Industry and Trade Ministry chipped in to the tune of $1,330, because Olmert flew to New York from Paris, where he had gone on ministry business. At the end of 2003, when the time came to sum up the travel information on the yearly chart, Risby-Raz made the following entry: the Olmerts' tickets cost $11,886, whereas the payments made by the three organizations added up to $24,035. Thus, without anyone in the organizations being any the wiser, Olmert's account with the travel agency posted a surplus of $12,100. The April visit to New York was not the only trip abroad Olmert made that year. Starting in April 2003, when he became industry and trade minister, Olmert made 10 trips abroad. The end-of-year summary by Risby-Raz shows that each trip enriched the account in Rishon Tours by several hundred dollars; at year's end, the total surplus came to $17,000. The more one digs into Risby-Raz's records, the more illuminating the information that is revealed. In the summer of 2003, Olmert flew to the United States for three central events. One was a fundraising evening in New York for the Jerusalem College of Technology. In his deposition in Jerusalem District Court, businessman Morris Talansky, who is at the hub of another Olmert affair, stated that he organized the event and covered part of Olmert's expenses. On the same day, Olmert took part in an Israel Bonds event in New Jersey - in fact, the Israel Bonds organization had paid for the minister's flight. Olmert then flew to Los Angeles to attend an event held at the home of a Jewish tycoon. The flight from New York to the West Coast was paid for by Yoram Oren, who in the past had been a key suspect in the case of the straw companies that were set up to funnel funds for the political campaigns of Ariel Sharon. The Risby-Raz records show that the Rishon Tours account added $1,076 after this trip. A few months later, in October 2003, Olmert flew to New York for three days in order to speak at a fundraiser for Akim, another Israeli organization that helps handicapped children, held at the city's Plaza Hotel. Friends of Akim USA paid for the plane ticket, costing $5,675, and for Olmert's stay in a St. Regis suite, at a cost of $1,200 per night. A few days before Olmert left, Risby-Raz informed Prof. Gary Tobin, president of the San Francisco-based Institute for Jewish and Community Research, that Olmert had accepted an invitation to take part in a study and brainstorming session at the home of the Jewish mogul Edgar Bronfman on the subject of the state of world Jewry. After the festive announcement of the minister's arrival, Risby-Raz added a modest request: $2,000 to cover expenses. Tobin, not knowing, of course, that Olmert's flight and stay had already been covered by Akim, forked over the money. Risby-Raz, asked by the police interrogators whether Olmert had known that the New York trip had been profitable, replied, "I don't know." Be that as it may, the October junket, which also included events related to the Industry and Trade Ministry, produced a surplus of $1,970 in Olmert's Rishon Tours account. Barely a month passed, and on November 5th Olmert again flew to the United States, this time for an Israel Bonds dinner organized by the organization's chairman, Yehoshua Matza, at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago. Olmert stayed at the prestigious Four Seasons and found time for his well-known pastime, attending a baseball game between the Colorado Rockies and the Chicago Cubs. From Chicago, Olmert hurried to Toronto for another Israel Bonds event. On the eve of his Toronto trip Olmert accepted an invitation from the American Society for Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial, which was holding a fundraising dinner in the city. Before Olmert set out, Risby-Raz asked the organizers of the Yad Vashem event for $2,000 to cover the minister's expenses. The money was duly transferred, and according to Risby-Raz's travel log, this was also exactly the surplus amount from the trip - $2,000. Some people donate to Yad Vashem, others get donations from Yad Vashem. On the road again According to Risby-Raz's records, Olmert went abroad 12 times in 2004, including a trip to Uruguay for the Israel Bonds organization. The only trip for which Risby-Raz noted double billing was in November, when Olmert was invited to speak at a dinner in honor of the America-Israel Friendship League, a not-for-profit organization that holds a traditional annual dinner. The organization paid more than $9,600 for a first-class ticket for Olmert from Tel Aviv, but in fact Olmert flew to New York from Washington, which he had visited on ministry business and with ministry's funding. On the eve of the trip to Washington, the ministry was asked to cover his flight in first class to the tune of $6,500. Because the state pays only for business-class tickets for cabinet ministers, Olmert paid the Industry and Trade Ministry $210 from his pocket. In practice, police suspect, and Risby-Raz's records show, that this trip beefed up the Rishon Tours account by more than $9,000. Olmert was on the road again in 2005 - there is no denying his popularity abroad. On February 8, 2005, he flew to Brussels for a two-day official visit and then went on to Los Angeles to take part in a fundraiser for the March of the Living, the Holocaust commemoration event which was the life project of his close friend Avraham Hirchson, who is now standing trial on fraud charges. Olmert flew from Belgium, but according to the Risby-Raz documents, the organization in charge of the annual event at Auschwitz paid $20,000 for a first-class ticket from Tel Aviv to Los Angeles. (The amount included a ticket for Olmert's bodyguard.) The event itself took place at the Beverly Hills Hilton; one of the guests was California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The next destination was Miami, to speak at the opening evening of a gathering sponsored by the World Pension Forum, attended by more than a hundred managers of pension funds. Risby-Raz notes that the WPF, too, deposited $20,000 in the Rishon Tours account to fly Olmert and his bodyguard from Tel Aviv to Miami. The next day Olmert took part in an Israel Bonds lunch, which brought in another $1,600 to cover the minister's expenses. All told, Risby-Raz sums up, this trip produced a surplus of $7,640. The advent of spring brought Olmert to the airport once more. The destinations: Las Vegas and Toronto. In Las Vegas Olmert took part in an event honoring Keren Hayesod - United Israel Appeal. "Keren Hayesod covered the costs of Olmert's participation in the event, just as it does for all the participants in the events it organizes," a spokesperson for the organization stated. Olmert stayed at the Venetian, a hotel owned by the billionaire Sheldon Adelson. The next day Olmert flew to Toronto for a cocktail reception in honor of Aleh. On the following day he attended another Aleh event, in Ottawa, where he also met with senior Canadian officials and signed trade cooperation agreements. He stayed in a suite at the Ottawa Sheraton and after the event returned to Israel. This trip, according to Risby-Raz's summation, was funded by both organizations. Keren Hayesod paid $8,400 for the trip from Tel Aviv to Las Vegas and Aleh paid $9,630 for a ticket from Tel Aviv to Toronto, even though Olmert flew to Canada from Las Vegas. The Rishon Tours account recorded a surplus of $6,920. Olmert marked the early summer of 2005 by spending three days in New York. He left on June 8 to attend an event of the Association for the Wellbeing of Israel's Soldiers (Aguda Lema'an Hahayal) held at a New Jersey hotel. On the same visit he also took part in an event held by the Israel Policy Forum, a not-for-profit organization to advance peace between Israel and the Palestinians, held at the Waldorf-Astoria. In between, Olmert found time to meet with acquaintances, among them Morris Talansky. As usual, he stayed in a St. Regis suite that cost $1,400 a night. According to the police investigation, on the eve of the trip Risby-Raz asked both the friends of the Association for the Wellbeing of Israel's Soldiers and the IPF to pay for Olmert's first-class ticket from Tel Aviv to New York. The IPF was sent a receipt from the travel agency listing the price of the flight at $7,813, whereas the receipt sent to the soldiers' welfare group cites $6,612 as the cost. One way or another, a surplus of $7,212 remained, according to the Risby-Raz documents. Olmert returned to Israel only briefly. At the end of June he and his wife flew to Denver, Colorado to take part in a conference sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, which holds an annual event to examine U.S. policy in various spheres. Risby-Raz sent the AEI a request for payment from Rishon Tours for two first-class tickets from Tel Aviv to Denver. The list price was $17,169. In her summation report, Risby-Raz notes, amazingly, that the "actual price" was far lower: $11,541. Alongside, Risby-Raz wrote that the net profit to the account from this trip was about $6,070. All told, a surplus of $37,000 was recorded for 2005. The Risby-Raz documents, it bears noting, cover not only Olmert's trips abroad on official business, but also his and his family's private trips. Thus, for example, a private flight for Aliza Olmert to Argentina and Brazil, depleted the account by more than $7,500. In her interrogation by the police, Risby-Raz stated that Olmert had instructed her to handle his wife's trips abroad. The police also asked Risby-Raz whom she updated about the state of the Rishon Tours account. "Usually Shula Zaken," she replied, referring to Olmert's former bureau chief. She added: "There were situations in which I also updated Olmert." And, later: "If you are asking me whether the account also paid for private trips, the answer is yes." "Who instructed you to follow that procedure?" the interrogators asked. "I believe that the instructions were from Shula and Ehud," she replied. She added that Olmert's trips were usually put together around an invitation from one organization abroad, to which additional events were appended, and that Olmert was the one who briefed her on whom to bill for the trip. At the same time, she did not say that she had been instructed to do double billing. The coming indictments In his announcement of intent to indict Olmert in the Rishon Tours case, Attorney General Mazuz offered a lengthy list of counts: aggravated fraud, fraud, breach of trust, falsifying corporate documents and tax evasion. A similar announcement was made by Jerusalem District Prosecutor Eli Abarbanel to Shula Zaken. About two months ago, the state prosecution informed Risby-Raz herself that she too will be indicted, on similar charges: aggravated fraud, fraud and breach of trust, and falsifying corporate documents. In one conversation with her interrogators, Risby-Raz is heard telling an interrogator that she was remaining silent despite the fact that the points the interrogator was making against her were "shocking." To which the interrogator shot back: "Your boss is pointing the finger at you - that's shocking." Rachael Risby-Raz's lawyer, Yair Golan, states in response: "It is clear that Risby-Raz is not the target of the police investigation in the Rishon Tours case. This is a young woman who devotedly fulfilled a not especially senior position as the coordinator of external relations in the Jerusalem Municipality and in the Ministry of Industry and Trade. She now finds herself a means in the hands of others, a tool for exerting pressure, stuck in the heart of a storm whose dimensions are bigger than she. This is not a simple situation for her. As her lawyer, I believe that it is very clear to the decision makers that the investigation and the suspicions, if there is anything to them, cannot and should not focus on her. I think that it is also clear to the public that the story here, to the extent that there is a story, is not about Risby-Raz." Amir Ran, the prime minister's media advisor, had this to say: "The prime minister completely rejects the allegations in the Rishon Tours case. It is not surprising that the picture presented by the law enforcement agencies is one-sided and has a hidden agenda. The prime minister was amazed to read in the attorney general's announcement, details and claims that were not presented to him in any investigation." Bookmark to del.icio.us   How Israel voted See Israel election results by city/sector. Israeli cover girls Israeli model Bar Refaeli lands Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover.   1.   Olmert knew nothing but private travells cost him nothing.... 09:11  |  S 06/02/09   2.   Olmert `travel scam` 09:49  |  Simona 06/02/09

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