Re: Arafat is one of the most corrupt men in the world. His wife has been living an incredibly luxurious life in Paris for the last couple of decades.
Well, Ray, how is Sharon's pet project progressing?? Any info? I'm hinting at that gambling resort --clue:
Message 20357782
Sharon accused of accepting £400,000 in bribes
By Toby Harnden in Jerusalem
(Filed: 22/01/2004)
Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, was named in a court indictment yesterday as having been bribed by a businessman who paid nearly £400,000 into his family accounts.
The formal accusations against David Appel were a bombshell for Mr Sharon, the Likud Party's leader, who was re-elected last year, following repeated denials of wrongdoing in a series of long-running Israeli financial scandals.
State prosecutors are due to decide within weeks whether Mr Sharon himself should be charged, a move that would force him from office.
In the indictment at Tel Aviv magistrates' court, Appel was alleged to have given Mr Sharon "a bribe in recognition of activities connected to the fulfilment of his public positions" between 1998 and 1999, when he was Israel's foreign minister.
The businessman was trying to set up a gambling resort on a Greek island and was said to have told Mr Sharon that his younger son Gilad, 37, would earn "good money" if the plans were helped along in high-level dealings with the Greek authorities.
In what has become known as "the Greek island affair", Gilad Sharon was hired as a marketing adviser on the project despite limited qualifications for the job.
The indictment states that he received a payment of £60,000. In addition, £327,000 was transferred to the accounts of the Sharon family ranch in the Negev desert.
"Appel and Gilad came to an agreement, even though Appel knew that Gilad did not have the professional skills.
"Appel came to an agreement with Gilad to pay out inflated amounts of money to Ariel Sharon's son with a purpose of influencing Ariel Sharon in his public positions."
Gilad Sharon was widely expected to be directly implicated in the Appel charges but the naming of Mr Sharon himself as having received a massive bribe was a major surprise and prompted fevered speculation about who might replace him.
The succession issue is complicated because Mr Sharon's deputy, Ehud Olmert, was also named in the indictment. Appel was accused of paying bribes to Mr Olmert during the same period, when the deputy premier was Mayor of Jerusalem.
Benjamin Netanyahu, finance minister and former prime minister, would be the favourite to take over but supporters of Silvan Shalom, the foreign minister, and Shaul Mofaz, defence minister, have also been quietly mobilising.
Appel, known as a Likud Party "kingmaker", has promised to fight the charges and recently enlisted Alan Dershowitz, the Harvard professor who defended O J Simpson in America, to head his legal team.
"There was no bribery," said Moshe Israel, Appel's Israeli lawyer. "There was no giver and there was no taker."
Mr Sharon has angrily rejected claims that he acted illegally as "a despicable slander" and his defenders point out that the Greek island project never came to fruition.
Last year, Mr Sharon said: "All this is just tales, gossip and lies."
Some opponents have accused Mr Sharon of trying to prevent his own indictment by setting up a situation whereby his remaining in office would be seen as crucial in peace negotiations with the Palestinians.
telegraph.co.uk |
