Olmert Denies Wrongdoing in Bank Deal

Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (L) sits during the opening of the winter session of the Israeli parliament on 8 October, 2007 in Occupied Jerusalem.

9 October 2007

Occupied Jerusalem: Police questioned Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Tuesday over allegations of attempted bid-rigging in the sale of a commercial bank, one of several scandals dogging the Israeli leader.

Olmert was Israel's finance minister during the 2005 privatisation of Bank Leumi, Israel's second biggest commercial bank.

Suspicions in that case focus on whether he tried to tailor the sale offer to give preference to a friend, who ultimately never bid on the bank. Olmert has denied any wrongdoing.

The prime minister is under another investigation over the apparently discounted price of an Occupied Jerusalem home he purchased in 2004, shortly after he stepped down as the city's mayor.

Israel's attorney-general is also considering whether to order a probe on whether Olmert, as trade minister in 2003, appointed cronies to a state business authority and helped secure funding for a factory represented by his former law partner.