Prosecutors are about to file another indictment against former prime minister Ehud Olmert, this time in the Holyland case. The Tel Aviv District Prosecutor - Taxes and Economics today notified 18 suspects in the case that it would indict them, subject to a hearing in the coming months.
State Prosecutor Moshe Lador and Deputy Prosecutor for Criminal Cases Shuki Lemberger agree with the decision.
The prosecutors believe that there are sufficient evidentiary grounds for indictments against the following persons:
- Hillel Cherney, one of the Holyland project's landowners, on charges of obtaining the building permit for the project by bribing a large number of elected public officials and civil servants in 1994-2007. The bribes totaled an unprecedented millions of shekels.
- Avigdor Kelner and other suspects for registering part of the Holyland project land and promoting the project by paying millions of shekels in bribes in 2002-07.
- Elected officials and civil servants in the Jerusalem Municipality for accepting bribes to promote the project, including former mayor and prime minister Ehud Olmert and former mayor Uri Lupolianski.
Olmert, in his capacity of Jerusalem mayor and minister of industry, trade and labor, and other Jerusalem Municipality and Israel Land Administration officials, allegedly accepted hundreds of thousands of shekels in bribes to promote the interests of the Holyland project developers.
The prosecutors closed the case against Adv. Uri Messer for lack of evidence.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 14, 2011
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