Ex-Olmert aide finally talks to police in real estate probe

After months of exercising her right to remain silent, Shula Zaken, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's former office manager, finally agreed to talk to the police Monday about one of the many investigations being conducted against Olmert.

However, it is not clear whether her testimony served to reinforce Olmert's defense or to bolster the case against him.

Zaken was interrogated by the police fraud squad for five hours regarding Olmert's purchase of a house on Jerusalem's Cremieux Street. She is a witness rather than a suspect in that case.

Police suspect that the contractor who sold the house gave Olmert discounts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars on the purchase price. In exchange, Olmert is suspected of using his ties with the Jerusalem municipality to secure for the contractor increased building rights in another project on that street.

Olmert was industry and trade minister at the time, but had previously served two terms as mayor of Jerusalem.

Police were seeking to discover what Zaken knew about the purchase, on the theory that as Olmert's office manager, she was well-placed to have known something.

The Cremieux case began two years ago with an investigation initiated by State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss, who then turned his findings over to the Attorney General's Office.

Zaken was interrogated on Friday in the "Olmertours" case, in which Olmert is suspected of billing several nonprofit agencies for the same plane ticket and using the extra money to finance personal trips. Zaken is suspected of having known about Olmert's double-billing at the time.

Police also questioned Keren Hayesod Chairman Avi Pazner yesterday about the Olmertours case. Keren Hayesod is one of the organizations that police think might have been victimized by the alleged scam.

Over the next few days, police plan to question other Keren Hayesod employees, along with employees of several other organizations that police suspect were victims of the double-billing.

Meanwhile, Aleh, The Society of Blind and Dyslexic Students in Israel, denied Monday that it was one of the victims of Olmert's double-billing. The denial was issued in response to media reports that quoted law enforcement officials as saying that Aleh was one of the affected agencies.