An indictment may be on the way in one of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's numerous criminal investigations, Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz announced Sunday evening after a final review of the so-called "cash envelopes" affair with State Attorney Moshe Lador. Mazuz informed Olmert's attorney he was considering charging the prime minister for a string of offenses stemming from the affair.
The announcement was a formality to allow Olmert the option of a hearing with Mazuz before the attorney-general makes a final decision. Justice Ministry officials said the indictments could include charges of fraud, bribery, violation of public confidence and receiving a goods fraudulently.
The cash envelopes affair, starring colorful New York businessman and charitable fund-raiser Morris Talansky, emerged early in 2008. In April, Mazuz decided that suspicions justified a criminal investigation into whether Olmert had received cash bribes when he was mayor of Jerusalem and a cabinet minister.
On Sunday, both Mazuz and Lador agreed to proceed with the case after reviewing the evidence gathered by the Israel Police's National Fraud Unit.
Justice Ministry officials described in detail the suspicions against the prime minister. His relationship with Talansky, they said, began in the early 1990s and was based on "what Talansky described as his identification with the policies that Olmert expressed and on the basis of Talansky's identifying Olmert as a promising key public and political figure."