Jewish American businessman Morris Talansky announced Thursday that he does not intend to return to Israel for cross-examination in an ongoing corruption probe against Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, in which he is akey witness.
Talansky's lawyers in Israel announced the decision on his behalf after Talansky consulted with his lawyers in the United States, local daily Ha'aretz reported.
The U.S. lawyers, Bradley D. Simon and Neal M. Sher, explained that Talansky's choice not to return to Israel for the continuation of the probe stems from their client's desire not to incriminate himself in a grand jury investigation being conducted against him in a New York court.
The Israeli investigation, dubbed the "cash envelopes" affair, is into allegations that Olmert illicitly received hundreds of thousands of U.S. dollars from Talansky over a period of 15 years.
Talansky was supposed to return to Israel in late August for additional questioning in court by Olmert's lawyers.
"It is our understanding that the New York federal investigation mirrors in many respects the matters at issue in the Israeli investigation... By cooperating with Israeli authorities, Mr. Talansky has placed himself in legal jeopardy in the United States," wrote Simon and Sher to their Israeli counterparts.
The U.S. lawyers wrote that while their client remained committed to cooperating with Israeli prosecutors. They had advised him not to appear for further examination in Israel until the U.S. grand jury matter is resolved.
Olmert's lawyers said Thursday they were "completely surprised" by the announcement, adding that they would consider the "serious ramification it has on the case" before deciding on their next course of action, according to local daily Yedioth Ahronoth.
Talansky underwent a five-day cross-examination by Olmert's lawyers in mid July, during which he was confronted with a series of contradictions in his police deposition.
While on the witness stand, Talansky admitted to not being completely truthful in his deposition, claiming he was under much stress during it.
Talansky previously testified that he gave Olmert some 150,000 U.S. dollars, much of it in envelopes, as campaign contributions before the latter became prime minister in 2006.
The fund-raiser speculated in the late May pretrial deposition that some of the money was spent funding Olmert's lavish lifestyle, such as foreign travels, luxury hotels and fine cigars.
Revelation of the cash envelopes affair alongside the existence of a number of other investigations against Olmert have led the premier to declare his intention to step down after a September primary in his ruling Kadima party.
Source: Xinhua
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