Police Decide to Question Under Warning Mordechai, Milo, Savir on Center Party Associations Affair

Prime facie suspicions against Milo contradict versions that he did not handle financial matters. Milo: I have not been questioned.

"Globes" has learned that material for investigation has accumulated at the Police's national fraud investigation unit, based on prime facie suspicions that Minister of Health Roni Milo committed apparent criminal acts in the "associations affair".

The material shows that in during the height of the Knesset and prime ministerial election campaign in 1999, Milo handled fundraising in a manner that apparently does not the Party Financing Law statutes. At stake are fundraising activities in the amount of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The funds were used to pay for election campaigns for the Center Party. Suspicions were strengthened following testimony obtained from several sources, including Center Party activists.

The investigation was opened following the State Comptroller's report and at the instruction of Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein. However, the evidence against Milo mostly accumulated in the past few months during the overall investigation into the associations affair.

Evidence already collected in the matter of Milo contradicts his numerous versions to the press, according to which he never handled the Center Party's financial affairs. Milo claims that financial matters were handled by Center Party chairman Yitzhak Mordechai and others, while he kept himself away to deal with other party matters.

"Globes" has learned that the national fraud investigation unit has decided to summon Milo to give testimony under warning, as a suspect. At the same time, it has been decided to investigate as suspects MKs Yitzhak Mordechai and Uri Savir. Dan Meridor has been summed only to give testimony.

Milo replied in response that he has not been investigated by the police, and is unaware of the reasons for his questioning.

Published by Israel's Business Arena on 27 August 2000

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