Israeli court reverses acquittal of ex-PM Olmert
An Israeli court has found former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert guilty of corruption, reversing an earlier 2012 verdict that acquitted him of charges.
The al-Quds (Jerusalem) District Court found Olmert guilty of accepting cash payments from an American businessman without reporting them.
The three-judge panel of the court found that Olmert had used the cash he received in sealed envelopes from Morris Talansky for personal expenses such as expensive cigars and suits.
Reportedly, the US businessman had given Olmert some money-filled envelopes when the Israeli official served as mayor of al-Quds and as a cabinet minister before becoming prime minister in 2006.
Olmert served as prime minister from that year to 2009.
The 69-year-old ex-premier is already in jail, serving a six-year term for another bribery and money laundering conviction.
Back in 2009, the confessions of one of Olmert’s main confidants, who offered tape-recordings of conversations with Olmert about receiving the money, led to the reversal of the acquittal.
Shula Zaken’s recordings, in addition to a journal and a testimony, had not been available in the first trial in which Olmert had been acquitted.
Olmert now faces additional jail time for the latest conviction. The panel’s judges will announce the verdict at a later court hearing.
His lawyers said they would probably appeal the ruling in the upcoming hearing.
In May 2014, Olmert was fined $430,000 and sentenced to six years in prison over the construction of the massive so-called “Holyland” residential complex when he served as mayor of al-Qud for two terms between 1993 and 2003.
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