Disgraced former Israeli leader Ehud Olmert guilty of fraud

Former prime minister Ehud Olmert, already facing a six-year prison term over a separate corruption conviction, has been found guilty of accepting illegal payments from American businessman Morris Talansky.

Yesterday’s Jerusalem district court decision reversed a 2012 acquittal of the veteran politician.

A retrial was ordered when Shula Zaken, his former office manager and loyal aide, turned state witness.

Zaken, who has already completed a seven-month prison term under a plea bargain, presented new evidence in the form of her diaries and personal computer files detailing the money transfers, along with incriminating recordings she made of conversations with Olmert.

In the recordings, Olmert told Zaken not to testify in the original trial so she would not incriminate him.

The court unanimously found the former premier guilty of fraud, breach of trust and aggravated fraud after ruling that he had accepted €141,600 from Mr Talansky in cash-filed envelopes when he was industry and trade minister in the years 2003-2005, with the money kept hidden by an aide in a safe.

The judges concluded that Olmert gave Zaken part of that money in exchange for her loyalty, and used the remainder for himself without reporting it, as required by law, and in exchange for favours to Mr Talansky, termed a “serious conflict of interest”.

“Shula Zaken’s diaries have relevant content, have real weight,” the judges wrote in their ruling.

“On two occasions during this period, Zaken received money from these funds. This was an annual addition to her salary.”

Accepted bribes

Last May, Olmert was sentenced to six years in jail for accepting €147,000 in bribes linked to the Holyland real estate project in Jerusalem, when he served as the city’s mayor.

He is currently appealing that conviction in the supreme court.

Olmert was prime minister of Israel between 2006 and 2009.

When he resigned to fight the corruption allegations, he claimed that he was on the verge of striking a historic peace agreement with the Palestinians.

He was replaced as prime minister by Binyamin Netanyahu and Middle East peace efforts have been deadlocked ever since.

Olmert left the courtroom immediately after the verdict without speaking to the media.

His lawyers said they are considering appealing the ruling.

Fraud and trust

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 5th. The maximum penalty for offences of fraud and breach of trust is three years’ imprisonment, and the maximum penalty for fraudulent receiving is five years. The court could theoretically order a jail term to run concurrently with the six-year Holyland term, if that is upheld.

“We are upset and disappointed with the verdict.

“The decision today was reached despite the blatant lies of Shula Zaken in court, and despite the fact that the defence team clearly proved in the hearings that Zaken edited, deleted and worked on the tapes in a manipulative way, and that the tapes are not reliable, to say the least,” a statement from Olmert’s legal team read.

State prosecutor Uri Korb called the verdict a victory in the fight against public corruption.

“The battle against corruption is long and stubborn,” he told reporters outside the courtroom after the verdict.

“It takes a long time, but, at long last, justice prevails. Seven years after Mr Talansky’s testimony, the court determined that Olmert certainly got envelopes of money and that his behaviour was breach of trust and damaged public trust and is true corruption.”

Eyal Rosovsky, a lawyer for Olmert, said the defence team was “very disappointed” with the ruling and would decide whether to appeal after studying the verdict.