The State Prosecution filed criminal charges against former prime minister Ehud Olmert and his longtime secretary Shula Zaken Sunday, after being instructed to do so by Attorney General Menachem Mazuz. Olmert resigned as Prime Minister in September 2008 after police recommended his indictment.
The charges filed against Olmert include breach of trust, fraud, fraudulent receipt of goods or services in aggravated circumstances, falsification of corporate documents and fraudulent concealment of income. The charges relate to the matters known as the Rishon-Tours affair, the Talansky affair and others.
Zaken is accused of fraudulent receipt of goods or services in aggravated circumstances, falsification of corporate documents, fraud, breach of trust and illegal wiretaps.
The Rishon Tours affair involves suspicions that from 2002 to 2006, when Olmert was Mayor of Jerusalem and later a minister, he and Zaken developed a fraudulent system by which multiple airline tickets and spending money that Olmert received from various bodies for his flights abroad were accumulated. They were then used to upgrade Olmert's tickets and to purchase tickets for his family members.
The Talansky affair involves receipt of sums of hundreds of thousands of dollars from U.S. businessman Morris Talansky, sometimes in cash, without reporting the donations to the authorities. At the same time, Olmert aided Talansky's business interests in Israel and abroad.
Additional charges against Olmert involve the maintenance of a slush fund with the aid of Olmert's friend and associate Attorney Uri Messer. Olmert is accused of aiding Messer and his clients despite the conflict of interests between Olmert's responsibilities to the state and his commitment to Messer.
Shula Zaken is also charged with listening in to Olmert's phone calls and using her assistants to monitor his calls, without his knowledge or permission.