JERUSALEM: An Israeli court will deliver a verdict on Tuesday in a corruption trial of former prime minister Ehud Olmert, accused of three counts of fraud and bribery, a judicial official said.
Olmert, the first former premier to face a possible criminal conviction in Israel, could face a jail term if found guilty of the charges, which date back to when he was Jerusalem mayor and a government minister.
He has maintained his innocence throughout the trial, which began in 2009 and includes allegations of fraud, embezzlement, forgery and tax evasion.
In the first case against him, Olmert is accused of having granted favours to companies owned by a former partner in his law firm, Uri Messer, when he was trade and industry minister.
The second set of charges centre around allegations he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars, including cash-stuffed envelopes from Jewish-American businessman Morris Talanski, also during his time as a minister.
He faces a third set of charges related to the so-called Rishon Tours affair, in which he is accused of billing foreign trips with the travel agency multiple times.
Olmert was mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003 after which he served as a cabinet minister, holding the trade and industry portfolio as well as several others, before becoming premier in 2006.
He led the centre-right Kadima party into government, but resigned from the premiership in September 2008 after police recommended he be indicted in several graft cases.
He has consistently proclaimed his innocence, and said the allegations against him are a "ruthless witch-hunt."
In addition to Tuesday's case, Olmert also faces a separate court process over allegations he accepted bribes to smooth the way for the construction of the huge Holyland residential complex in Jerusalem during his tenure as mayor in the 1990s.
Comments
Comments are closed.