Thursday, 17 February 2005Dan Izenberg
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's son MK Omri Sharon will be indicted Thursday in connection with the illegal financing of his father's 1999 campaign to lead the Likud Party, Channel 1 reported Wednesday.
Attorney General Menahem Mazuz is expected to announce the indictment charging the younger Sharon for allegedly setting up a straw company to funnel cash into his father's primary campaign.
Mazuz will first have to ask the Knesset to lift Sharon's immunity as a minister before the accused can be brought to trial.
Last year, Mazuz decided not to indict Ariel Sharon on charges of taking bribes from an Israeli businessman, overturning a recommendation from the state prosecutor's office. Sharon's personal adviser Dov Weissglas is also suspected of involvement in the case.
An investigation continues into a questionable loan paid to Sharon's sons in connection with the 1999 campaign.
Both the police and the Tel Aviv District Attorney's Office, which investigated the affair before it reached the head office in Jerusalem, recommended indicting only Omri Sharon.
The case of the illegal donations to Sharon's primary campaign in 1999 was once known as the Cyril Kern affair, after it was reported that Kern supplied the money used by Sharon to repay the illegal donations.
In the meantime, however, the state prosecution and the police have split the affair into separate cases, one involving the way the illegal campaign contributions were obtained and the other involving the source of the money used to pay back the illegal campaign donations. |
Thursday, 17 February 2005
Jerusalem Post
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