Enough Proof Exists
To Indict PM Sharon
By Baruch Kra
Haaretz Correspondent
8-11-3
Two investigations being conducted simultaneously against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon stand at varying stages of evidence collection, but according to some interpretations, charges could already be filed against individuals involved in both cases - including the prime minister.
Unlike the investigation into the loan received from South African-based businessman Cyril Kern, almost all relevant evidence has been gathered in the "Green Island" case. The most important piece of evidence is the contract between the prime minister's son, Gilad Sharon, and contractor David Appel.
To date, none of the individuals questioned provided a suitable explanation as to why Appel, an experienced contractor, hired Gilad Sharon, at the time a 30-year-old economist, and was willing to pay him hundreds of thousands of dollars for consultations on his business plans in Greece. This followed the fact that Sharon's Sycamore Ranch company had not provided such consultation services in the past, and his company specialized in agriculture. Police investigators are also in possession of tapes with information on relations between now- Industry and Trade Minister Ehud Olmert (who was Jerusalem mayor at the time) and Appel, as well as between Ariel Sharon and Appel during the 1999 Likud primaries.
So investigators in fact have all of the evidence. State Prosecutor Edna Arbel and Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein must now decide how to construe the evidence and conclude if it proves that a bribery deal was carried out between Appel and Olmert.
In the investigation of the Kern loan, investigators are still trying to gather additional evidence, and are waiting for an Austrian court to allow judicial inquiries. Inquiries in Austria may reveal who had vested interest in the case, and who could have stood behind the $1.5 million transfer from Kern's bank account in Austria to Gilad Sharon's account in Tel Aviv. The documents that the police requested that Gilad Sharon transfer to investigators, if they have not yet been destroyed, may shed light on the case. Based on certain interpretations, police may have enough evidence to present indictments against various individuals involved in the case.
According to the law, if a large sum of money is given to a public official, especially if he is prime minister, he or she must provide judicial authorities with an explanation and clarify the purpose of the monetary gift (as was done in the case of gifts given to former president Ezer Weitzman from his friend, French businessman Edward Sarrousi).
The police and state prosecution have not accepted the prime minister's line of defense, according to which he had no connection to the aforementioned monetary transactions. It is clear to the judicial authorities that the money was used to return illegal loans Sharon received from donors during the 1999 primaries.
Based on this assumption, police can try the prime minister on lesser charges in the case, including a violation of the Parties Funding Law and the Parties Law. Investigators have concrete evidence that, contrary to his testimony and statements made to the attorney general, the prime minister knew about an American shell company called Annex Research Ltd., which transferred money to his campaign fund. It is also clear that Ariel Sharon signed a number of checks that were transferred to money lenders.
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