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Last update - 23:27 30/08/2009
Olmert indictment sounds alarm on Israel corruption
By Ze'ev Segal
Tags: Israel news, Ehud Olmert 

The grave indictment against former prime minister Ehud Olmert was written in anger.

The outrage of its drafters, three devoted civil servants - State Prosecutor Moshe Lador, Jerusalem District Attorney Eli Abarbanel and Abarbanel's deputy, Uri Corb - comes clearly through the text. It is not often that an indictment against a senior public figure accused of fraud, deceit and abusing his position and status is worded the way this one is.

The gravity of the consolidated indictment, comprising three different cases, lies not in the serious offenses they detail, involving fraudulent record-keeping and fraudulent receipt of funds. Rather, it lies in the aggravating circumstances under which the offenses were allegedly committed.
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The very serious charges leveled in one case, the Rishon Tours double-billing affair, list these aggravating circumstances one by one: "abuse of his position and status, the scope of the fraud and the systematic manner in which it was committed over time, the fact that it was the result of an ongoing effort involving the systematic submission of dozens false documents, and the fact that some of the sums of money in question were obtained from the public coffers, and others from charitable organizations of a public character."

If the indictment had amounted solely to the collection of offenses detailed in this case - which, when added together, carry a maximum sentence of more than 15 years - it would have been enough.

In addition, however, there are all the other serious charges: receiving $600,000 in cash-filled envelopes from American Jewish businessman Morris Talansky; serious conflicts of interest in his handling, as industry minister, of the ministry's Investment Center, for the benefit of his friend and confidant, attorney Uri Messer, who allegedly managed a secret
fund for Olmert; and deceiving the state comptroller, thereby riding roughshod over his obligations as a minister - obligations reaffirmed by a cabinet in which he himself was a senior minister.

This indictment is not only a technical legal document. It is also an ethical document that sounds an alarm over serious government corruption.

In Olmert's case, this corruption allegedly included intentional concealment of financial benefits; abuse of his public office; damaging the image of the civil service; and false documentation and fraudulent concealment of income by someone who, among his other positions, was the minister responsible for guarding the public purse and expanding state revenue.

It is difficult to compare the allegations against Olmert with the offenses of which two other former ministers, Abraham Hirchson and Shlomo Benizri, were recently convicted. Hirchson was convicted of stealing NIS 1.8 million and was sentenced to more than five years in prison.

Benizri was convicted of taking bribes and sentenced to four years behind bars. But what the cases of Hirchson, Benizri and Olmert (if convicted) all have in common is that their offenses put government above the law.

The Supreme Court has stressed the need to punish governmental corruption, a crime it said "has become a plague on society, one that is exacting a high price and necessitates deterrent sentences." However, the road to convicting Olmert is still a long one. His trial will involve
280 prosecution witnesses testifying over what will almost certainly be a very long period.

Moreover, while the allegations against him involve systematic and outrageous acts, proving them will not be easy. His experienced attorneys will work hard to raise reasonable doubts regarding the evidence that he raided the public coffers.

Olmert is entitled to the presumption of innocence that every defendant enjoys. He is embarking on a battle to prove his innocence, and the public will have to await the outcome.

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