Olmert investigated
Photo: Reuters
Police investigators at PM's residence Sunday
Photo: AP
Olmert investigation continues
Police question prime minister over alleged involvement in Bank Leumi affair
Investigators from the National Fraud Unit returned to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's residence Thursday for the second day of their investigation into fraud allegations against him.
Olmert was questioned for about four hours regarding suspicions that he attempted to illegally advance a bid for the controlling share of Bank Leumi filed by his associates Frank Lowy and Daniel Abrams during his tenure as stand-in finance minister in 2005.
The investigators are trying to discern whether Olmert tried to convince Lowy and Abrams to acquire the controlling share and, if so, what his motives were. The police team will also inquire about the nature of the head of state's relationship with Tamar Ben-David who is being investigated for acting as a middleman between Olmert and Lowy.
In the end, Lowy's group withdrew its bid for control over the bank "because they were not able to outbid the other competitors," one of the investigators said.
At the end of the first day of investigations on Wednesday, sources within the police said the prime minister had been cooperative and answered the questions he was posed.
After Thursday's interrogation is completed, Major General Yohanan Danino, head of the police's investigation and intelligence department, will review the evidence that has been collected in the case and will decide if there are grounds for criminal charges.
