Police raid 20 locations as part of probe into PM Olmert

The National Fraud Squad launched a raid yesterd ay to collect evidence in their investigation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who is suspected of irregularities in the purchase of a house in Jerusalem, of cronyism and of altering a tender to benefit associates.

One hundred detectives fanned out to 20 locations, confiscating computers and documents police hope will shed light on the affairs.

The investigators came to the offices of the industry, trade and employment minister - a post which Olmert once served - the Israel Lands Administration, the Employment Bureau, the Small Business Authority and the Investment Center. They also collected documents from the offices of attorney Uri Messer, the Jerusalem municipality and Alumot, the company that renovated the house on Jerusalem's Cremieux Street.

Senior police officers said they were unsure the raid would produce significant evidence against Olmert. "Whoever wanted to synchronize their versions of events has already done so, whoever wanted to conceal evidence has already done so, and whoever wanted to destroy evidence has already done so," a senior officer said. "How can such sensitive investigations be conducted after all the material has already leaked to the press?"

Police officials who did not take part in yesterday's actions said the scale of the raid showed that the police were having difficulty focusing their probe, and that the analysis of the material would take a long time because it was so diffuse.

The searches began yesterday at around 8 A.M. when investigators arrived at the offices of Industry, Trade and Employment Minister Eli Yishai and told staff to stop working at their computers. There are no suspicions against Yishai, the police said. The search focused on documents and computer records involving Olmert's period as minister.

Detectives confiscated documents from the Jerusalem city engineer's office and the offices of the municipality's deputy director, Yehoshua Pollak, who heads the municipal planning and construction committee. Police want to know how building permits were approved for the Cremieux Street house and whether Olmert exerted undue pressure on the city to allow Alumot to build.