Olmert becomes first premier to face trial

[scandal 951]

Israel's very own Watergate. You'd think that after all the Sharon family political corruption scandals, and Aryeh De'eri, that Olmert would have known better.

Olmert and Rod Blagojevich are clearly on the same wavelength. Sleazy, slimy all the way down.

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1111331.html

Last update - 02:05 31/08/2009

Olmert becomes first premier to face trial

By Ofra Edelman, Haaretz Correspondent

For the first time in the history of the State of Israel, a person who served as prime minister will sit on the defendant's bench. The State Prosecution filed charges Sunday against former prime minister Ehud Olmert, attributing to him a litany of violations that include accepting bribes, fraud, breach of trust, falsifying documents and income tax evasion.

The indictment focuses on three investigations against Olmert for which he was questioned by police: the Talansky Affair, Rishon Tours, and the Investment Center. The charges also refer to false declarations made to the State Comptroller regarding funds he received from a U.S. citizen and an assessment of the value of his pen collection.

Olmert's former bureau chief, Shula Zaken, was also indicted with similar charges. She is also accused of wire tapping Olmert's conversations with politicians and ministers, without his knowledge.

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According to the indictment filed by State Prosecutor Moshe Lador, Jerusalem District Prosecutor Eli Abarbanel, and attorney Uri Corb, Olmert and Zaken abused his political position "in systematic and drawn out activities for financial benefits ... in different ways and from different sources ... all in manners that contravened the law, the norms and the rules that obligate a minister and a public servant."