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Cops probe '$3m Sharon bribe'
04/01/2006 12:48 - (SA)
Jerusalem - Israeli police have evidence, which they believe will prove that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's family received a bribe of $3m from an Austrian billionaire, a police spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Mickey Rosenfeld said the evidence had been gathered in late December during an Israeli police raid on a house which is owned by the family of Austrian financier Martin Schlaff.
Rosenfeld said: "On December 22 2005, the national police investigation unit searched Schlaff's house and confiscated documents, paperwork, phones and his computers.
"We suspect there could be proof within Schlaff's computer data that the sum of $3m was transferred to the Sharon family."
Court order slows investigation
However, although the police have actual possession of the computer hardware, they have been prevented from examining the data by a temporary court order issued after an appeal by Schlaff's lawyers, said Rosenfeld.
"Since December 22, the national unit for investigations has not been able to confirm these suspicions after Schlaff turned to the courts, who have temporarily denied police access to Schlaff's computer data," he said.
An Austrian Jewish investor, Schlaff is one of the main owners of the Oasis Casino in the West Bank city of Jericho.
The casino has been closed since the start of the Palestinian uprising five years ago.
The bribe is thought to be connected to a long-running corruption scandal which has plagued the Sharon family over illegal campaign contributions during the 1999 elections.
Officials in Sharon's office refused to comment on the report, which was first broadcast late on Tuesday by private Channel 10 television.
Channel 10 showed footage of a police document which had been presented to a Tel Aviv district court in which it outlined evidence of the alleged bribe.
The money is thought to be linked to an unresolved corruption scandal in which Sharon was suspected of receiving a $1.5m loan from South African businessman Cyril Kern that was allegedly used to refund contributions to his 1999 leadership campaign after they were deemed irregular.
The news came just hours after one of Sharon's sons, Omri, resigned from parliament ahead of his sentencing for providing false testimony and falsifying documents.
This was in a case linked to the financing of one of his father's leadership campaigns.
Omri, who pleaded guilty to the charges in November, is due to be sentenced on January 23.
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