In a report Friday, journalist Yoav Yitzchak said that the company accused of bribing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert by giving him a huge discount on the purchase of an apartment in a project for which he helped arrange hard-to-get permits had “lost” an important piece of evidence in the case. The Alumot construction company, which developed the Carmia project in which Olmert reportedly purchased an apartment at a $600,000 discount, says that it cannot find an appraisal document prepared by the company that states the developers could expect between NIS 1.8 million and NIS 2 million for dwellings of the type and size Olmert was able to purchase – for NIS 1.2 million.
Yitzchak said that when prosecutors originally sought the document as they made their way the Olmert corruption case, nicknamed by the legal team as “Document Zero,” they were told that it could not be located. Later, they were offered a “replica” of the document - but sources in the State Prosecutor's Office said that this version of the document presents appraisals more in line with the price paid by Olmert.
The document was originally authored by the contractor as part of its attempts to receive financial backing from a large bank for the project. In 2005, the contractor applied for such backing, and received it from Bank Hapoalim, using the document it had prepared to assure the bank that the project would earn it a lot of money. Bank Hapoalim halted its financial support for the project in 2006, Yitzchak said, after he published the original story on Olmert's alleged involvement in trading favors for the discount on the home he purchased. It was this report that prompted the current investigation of Olmert on the matter.
Yitzchak said that when prosecutors originally sought the document as they made their way the Olmert corruption case, nicknamed by the legal team as “Document Zero,” they were told that it could not be located. Later, they were offered a “replica” of the document - but sources in the State Prosecutor's Office said that this version of the document presents appraisals more in line with the price paid by Olmert.
The document was originally authored by the contractor as part of its attempts to receive financial backing from a large bank for the project. In 2005, the contractor applied for such backing, and received it from Bank Hapoalim, using the document it had prepared to assure the bank that the project would earn it a lot of money. Bank Hapoalim halted its financial support for the project in 2006, Yitzchak said, after he published the original story on Olmert's alleged involvement in trading favors for the discount on the home he purchased. It was this report that prompted the current investigation of Olmert on the matter.