Report: Peres accepted illegal payments
by Dan Izenberg and Jerusalem Post Staff
April 27, 2006
As first reported by The Jerusalem Post some three months ago, State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss confirmed Thursday morning that MK Shimon Peres (Kadima) is suspected of accepting illegal contributions for his Labor Party primaries campaign.
According to the allegations, Peres received a forbidden donation of some $320,000 from two overseas donors on the eve of his loss to Amir Peretz in the party leadership race.
The State Comptroller's Office reported that Peres received donations of $100,000 each, from businessmen Haim Saban and Bruce Rappaport, and $120,000 from Daniel Abrams. The figures were provided by Peres himself.
The details of the report have already been brought to the attention of Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz and Peres has employed the services of attorney Ram Caspi.
Yoram Dori, an adviser to Peres, denied the allegations.
"Shimon Peres did not violate any laws. All campaign funding was done in accordance with the regulations," Dori said.
The complete State Comptroller report was set to be published in three weeks.
"We must make sure the law is upheld exactly as legislated by the Knesset," Lindenstrauss told the Post. "We must deal with these donations with an iron fist to make sure the law is observed."
