By Xinhua
Jerusalem : Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will be questioned under warning on Tuesday regarding his role in the privatization of a major Israeli bank in 2005, Israel Radio reported on Sunday.
The report said the case is being investigated by the Israel Police’s National Fraud Investigation Unit, and the interrogation was expected to take place in Olmert’s Jerusalem residence.
Olmert is suspected of intervening in the government tender for sale of the controlling interest in Bank Leumi, one of the major banks in Israel, to benefit his close personal associates.
The criminal investigation into the bank tender was opened in January, a year after Israeli State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss began to probe claims of favoritism on Olmert’s part.
Olmert had denied through his office any wrongdoing in the affair.
The police is also probing the prime minister’s alleged unlawful home purchase.
Olmert allegedly received favorable terms for the purchase of his house in Jerusalem in 2004, in return for helping the contractor who sold it to him.
On Sept. 24, Israeli Attorney General Menahem Mazuz ordered a criminal investigation into the house purchase.