100 Policemen Raid Offices Looking for Evidence Against Olmert
by Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) One hundred policemen raided some 20 government and other offices Sunday morning, in search of evidence in the investigations against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Among the offices under search were the Postal Authority, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Israel Lands Authority, the Jerusalem Municipality, and private offices and residences.
Olmert is being investigated by police regarding four sets of suspicions, and the police are searching for evidence having to do with all of them. The four are:
1. Olmert's purchase of a luxury apartment on Cremeiux St. in Jerusalem at a discount of at least $330,000, allegedly in exchange for his influence in the Jerusalem municipality on behalf of the contractor;
2. Olmert's alleged intervention on behalf of two friends during the government's privatization of Bank Leumi;
3. Political appointments by Olmert in the Small Businesses Authority;
4. The Investment Center case, for which State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss has recommended that Olmert be indicted for his intervention in a case involving his friend, former partner and current lawyer Uri Messer.
Olmert was questioned under caution by police investigators for four hours in early October regarding the Bank Leumi case.
Attorney General Menachem Mazuz reviewed the material in the cases and concluded that there was sufficient suspicion to order a police investigation in each.