Attorney General Menachem Mazuz informed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's lawyer Wednesday that he is considering the initiation of a criminal trial against Olmert regarding suspicions of impropriety known as the Rishon Tours affair.
Mazuz notified Olmert that before reaching a final decision on the matter he would give the opportunity of a hearing in which his attorneys could present his positions on legal and factual matters.
The timing of the hearing is to be coordinated with Olmert's lawyers.
A similar notice was given Wednesday to Olmert's long-time bureau chief, Shula Zaken. She, too, is a suspect in the case.
The notifications are another step in the legal process against Olmert and signal that a trial date may be approaching soon.
The criminal investigation in the Rishon Tours affair was launched last June, after police investigators found evidence that Olmert had illegally double-billed various charities for his speaking tours abroad when he was Mayor of Jerusalem and later as a cabinet minister.
According to leaks from the investigating authorities, Olmert is suspected of creating a special fund where the extra money from the double billing was kept and then using it for financing travels abroad by his family members.
The suspicions against Olmert include fraudulent receipt of goods in aggravated circumstances, fraud and breach of trust, falsification of corporate documents and tax evasion.