(JTA) — Israeli police have recommended that prosecutors indict Ehud Olmert in a real estate scandal. The police investigations unit turned over its file on the Holyland apartment project scandal to State Prosecutor Moshe Lador on Monday. The police recommendation has no formal bearing. Olmert, the former Israeli prime minister, is suspected of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes during the construction of the Holyland apartment project in Jerusalem when he was mayor of Jerusalem and then trade minister. Olmert is currently on trial in other corruption scandals. The police also recommended charging several other former officials on charges ranging from bribery and fraud to tax offenses, including Olmert’s former bureau chief Shula Zaken, former Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski, and former Israel Land Administration head Yaakov Efrati. The Holyland project started while Olmert was mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003, and continued under his successor, Lupolianski, who served until 2008.
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