Six weeks after the Holyland investigation become public knowledge, former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was questioned under caution by police today. Olmert came to the national fraud squad offices in Lod this morning.

He was questioned for over eight hours and was allowed to leave shortly after 4pm and consented to return for further enquiries on Sunday.

Olmert said this evening that he had not been surprised by any of the police questions and that the atmosphere during the investigation had been business-like.

Prior to today's police questioning, there have been dozens of arrests of senior officials of the Jerusalem Municipality and Israel Land Administration, including former Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski, concerning alleged bribes over the Holyland real estate project overlooking Malkah.

Olmert is suspected of receiving bribes from the project developers in exchange for promoting construction when he was Jerusalem Mayor and Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 25, 2010

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