Prosecutors to push for moral turpitude ruling against Olmert

State prosecutors will likely ask judges to slap former prime minister Ehud Olmert with a moral turpitude ruling and prison time following his July conviction of breach of trust in a real estate investment case.

Olmert was convicted on July 10 of breach of trust in the so-called Investment Center case for dealings when he was industry, trade and labor minister in the mid-1990s.

Sentencing is to take place on September 5.

The same court ruling that convicted Olmert of breach of trust also acquitted him of two more serious charges: double billing on trips abroad in what was known as the Rishon Tours case, and charges of illegally taking money from American businessman Morris Talansky.

While prosecutors have not announced exactly how long a prison sentence they will request, it is expected to range from several months of community service to as much as a year behind bars, Israeli media reported Thursday.

If the court finds that the Investment Center case did involve moral turpitude, and if Olmert is sentenced to a minimum of three months in prison, then by Israeli law he will be barred from re-entering politics for at least seven years. This would quash any possibility that Olmert might lead a centrist party in the elections that are slated to take place in October 2013, as has been speculated since July’s verdicts.

A breach of trust conviction for a politician has never carried both moral turpitude and a three month or more prison sentence, legal analysts said.

In June, Olmert’s bureau chief during his tenure as prime minister, Shula Zaken, was convicted of fraud and breach of trust in a Tax Authority bribery scandal. Prosecutors in that case also pushed for prison time, but Zaken was sentenced to four months of community service.

Regarding the upcoming sentencing for Olmert, a spokesman from the Justice Ministry said on Wednesday that “at this stage, no decision has been made on the matter and there is no basis for speculation regarding the prosecutor’s position on the punishment.”

In a separate case, Olmert is also facing charges of taking bribes in the Holyland real estate scandal when he served as mayor of Jerusalem. That case is widely regarded as one of the largest corruption scandals in Israel’s history. In addition to Olmert, it also involves another former mayor of Jerusalem, Uri Lupolianski, plus former Israel Lands Administration director Yaakov Efrati and several others. That trial is ongoing.

On Tuesday, the State Prosecutor’s Office announced that it was closing the investigation against Olmert and former cabinet secretary Ovad Yehezkel regarding political appointments the two allegedly made at the Investments Center — a government agency that promotes business and industry — while Olmert was minister of industry, trade and labor.