Mazuz looking into bribery allegations against Olmert
Justice Ministry officials confirm attorney general received material from State Comptroller's Office regarding sale of Bank Leumi's controlling shares. According to suspicions, prime minister and other officials committed bribery offenses in sale tender
According to the suspicions, first published by the NFC website, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other officials committed bribery offenses in the sales tender.
The attorney general transferred the material to State Prosecutor Eran Shendar to examine and decide how to act. At this stage, no decisions have been made and no criminal procedure has been launched.
Legal sources said, however, that the allegations the State Prosecutor's Office is looking into are criminal allegations.
The state comptroller's advisor on corruption matters, Yaakov Borovsky, refused to answer questions regarding the new material on the sale of Bank Leumi's controlling shares, saying that he will not confirm or deny the report.
According to suspicions, while Olmert served as acting finance minister, he allegedly illegally held a direct and indirect relationship involving bribery with two of his friends, Daniel Abrams and Frank Louie.
According to the NFC website, Olmert worked to promote Abrams' candidacy in the tender for the sale of Bank Leumi. The attempts were held while easing restrictions and "bending the hands" of senior Finance Ministry officials, who opposed the interference in the tender.
The same year, Louie was one of the contenders to acquire Bank Leumi. According to suspicions, Olmert who served as acting finance minister did not refrain from advancing Louie's interests, in a clear conflict of interest.
'Great achievement for Israeli economy'
Abrams was involved in another affair being checked by the state comptroller. He was the person who purchased Olmert's house in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Talbiyeh for a price higher than the market price.
After the sale, Olmert continued to live in the house, paying a rental fee of USD 2,250, which is much lower than the market price. According to the allegations, Abrams is known to be a tycoon who donates his private money to public figures and is considered one of Olmert's supporters.
After the sale in 2005, Olmert said it was a great achievement for the Israeli economy in general and the privatization process in particular.
"Selling such a large amount of shares in a central bank in Israel at the highest price ever to a strategic investor will strengthen the competition between the banks and contribute to the local capital market," he had said.
The American hedge fund group Cerberus-Gabriel Capital was the winner of the bid to purchase controlling shares in Bank Leumi.
Cerberus-Gabriel offered NIS 2.474 billion (about USD 500 million) for 9.99 percent of the bank's shares, and has the option to purchase another 10.01 percent of the shares held by the State within a year and a half, and to reach a total holding of 20 percent of the bank's shares.
The six other contenders who lost the bid include strategic investors – Lev Leviev, IDB and Bill Davidson – and financial contenders – UBS, Deutsche Bank and Citibank.
Avi Shauli and Miri Chason contributed to the report
