Police recommend Israeli foreign minister be indicted for fraud and corruption
Sunday 2nd August, 2009
Israeli Police have formally recommended the country's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman be charged with bribery, fraud, money laundering, witness harassment, and obstruction of justice.
The report recommending Lieberman be indicted was handed to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz on Sunday.
It will now be up to Mazuz to decide on whether the charges proceed. An early decision is not expected.
If charged and found guilty Lieberman could face up to 31 years in prison.
A police statement issued Sunday said the formal investigation into Lieberman began in 2006 and covers activities going back to 2000.
Lieberman also issued a statement Sunday denying any wrongdoing and saying he was a victim of persecution.
"For 13 years the police have conducted a campaign of persecution against me," the foreign minister said. "As much as my political strength and the strength of Yisrael Beiteinu rise, the campaign of persecution also intensifies."
According to a Haaretz newspaper report, Lieberman and his associates are suspected of establishing several companies, some of them shell companies, in order to launder millions of shekels and funnel them into his own pockets. Police have investigated whether Lieberman continued running these alleged operations even after becoming a public official.
In addition, police believe Lieberman and his associates tried to obstruct the police investigation in at least three separate instances, by changing the names of companies he allegedly established in Cyprus after he suspected the police had identified them, the Haaretz report said.
As reported in Haaretz, Lieberman incriminated himself when police questioned him on suspicions that he took bribes. However, this is believed to be the less significant of the charges the foreign minister may face; if a plea bargain is reached, it may be dropped from the indictment.
Haaretz says it has has learned that Lieberman earned more than NIS 2.5 million as a salaried employee of his daughter's company from 2004-2006, when he was neither a Knesset member nor a cabinet minister. According to information obtained by Haaretz, between 2004 and 2007 the company headed by Michal Lieberman, M.L. 1, received NIS 11 million from anonymous sources overseas for "business consulting."
Another Haaretz probe revealed that in 2001 an Austrian company owned by Jewish gambling tycoon Martin Schlaff transferred $650,000 to a Cypriot company, Trasimeno Trading, which police believe was controlled by Lieberman. A previous probe revealed Lieberman held several private bank accounts and accounts belonging to companies while presiding as a minister in the cabinet of former prime minister Ariel Sharon.
Sunday 2nd August, 2009
Israeli Police have formally recommended the country's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman be charged with bribery, fraud, money laundering, witness harassment, and obstruction of justice.
The report recommending Lieberman be indicted was handed to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz on Sunday.
It will now be up to Mazuz to decide on whether the charges proceed. An early decision is not expected.
If charged and found guilty Lieberman could face up to 31 years in prison.
A police statement issued Sunday said the formal investigation into Lieberman began in 2006 and covers activities going back to 2000.
Lieberman also issued a statement Sunday denying any wrongdoing and saying he was a victim of persecution.
"For 13 years the police have conducted a campaign of persecution against me," the foreign minister said. "As much as my political strength and the strength of Yisrael Beiteinu rise, the campaign of persecution also intensifies."
According to a Haaretz newspaper report, Lieberman and his associates are suspected of establishing several companies, some of them shell companies, in order to launder millions of shekels and funnel them into his own pockets. Police have investigated whether Lieberman continued running these alleged operations even after becoming a public official.
In addition, police believe Lieberman and his associates tried to obstruct the police investigation in at least three separate instances, by changing the names of companies he allegedly established in Cyprus after he suspected the police had identified them, the Haaretz report said.
As reported in Haaretz, Lieberman incriminated himself when police questioned him on suspicions that he took bribes. However, this is believed to be the less significant of the charges the foreign minister may face; if a plea bargain is reached, it may be dropped from the indictment.
Haaretz says it has has learned that Lieberman earned more than NIS 2.5 million as a salaried employee of his daughter's company from 2004-2006, when he was neither a Knesset member nor a cabinet minister. According to information obtained by Haaretz, between 2004 and 2007 the company headed by Michal Lieberman, M.L. 1, received NIS 11 million from anonymous sources overseas for "business consulting."
Another Haaretz probe revealed that in 2001 an Austrian company owned by Jewish gambling tycoon Martin Schlaff transferred $650,000 to a Cypriot company, Trasimeno Trading, which police believe was controlled by Lieberman. A previous probe revealed Lieberman held several private bank accounts and accounts belonging to companies while presiding as a minister in the cabinet of former prime minister Ariel Sharon.
