Police accuse Olmert after latest fraud interview

The political future of the Israeli Prime Minister is looking increasingly in doubt after police accused him of corruption. They have also widened their investigation to look at possibly fraudulent travel expenses claims.

He has said he will stand down if police accusations lead to an indictment. The original inquiry centres on payments made to Olmert by an American businessman.

After interviewing him for a third time, police say they are now probing whether he received duplicate funding for trips abroad from different public bodies while he was Mayor of Jerusalem.

New York businessman Morris Talansky has testified that he gave Olmert the equivalent of around 94,000 euros in cash, including loans that were never paid back. He is to be cross-examined next Thursday. Olmert denies any wrong-doing, saying the money was used legitimately to fund election campaigns.

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