Holyland affair: state witness S. D. died in hospital

Earthquake in Holyland affair: S. D., the state witness in the court case, passed away today (Friday) at the age of 76.

Over the last few months it was known that the witness's condition is not good. Last night after giving testimony against Olmert, he was taken to hospital where he died.

S. D. died at the height of the ongoing trial against former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and against his successor Uri Lopliansky, in the District Court in Tel Aviv.

This is a real blow in the case against Olmert accused of receiving bribes while serving as mayor of Jerusalem, against bureau chief Shula Zaken, and against Olmert's successor as mayor - Uri Lopliansky.

Yesterday S. D. testified for the last time in the trial, which is currently under cross-examination. It was after three consecutive days of interrogation by some of the defendants from their lawyers, led by attorney Roy Blecher.
S. D. already testified and was questioned on cross-examination - by lawyers from many of the defendants. His testimony appears in court protocol and therefore can be used even though he died. However, the weight of the testimony regarding the defendants lawyers who had not yet had time to conduct cross-examination would probably be small.

S. D., born in Romania and a Holocaust survivor, served in senior positions in several companies in the economy. Later he tried his luck in real estate, but was not successful and left Israel. When he returned to Israel in the late 80's, he was an entrepreneur and consultant in real estate and for years he was employed as a business consultant at the prestigious Holyland project being built in Jerusalem.

In 2010, S. D. came to the police, signed the agreement as state witness, and told the story of the millions of dollars that passed through his as a bribe to Ehud Olmert and senior officials in the Jerusalem municipality and the Israel Lands Administration, in order to get exceptional building rights for the project.

He backed the testimony with hundreds of documents he kept, including checks photographs and recordings of conversations with those involved. These documented the mechanism bribe municipal officials, elected officials and the Israel Lands Administration officials, for benefits and real-estate developers in Holyland and other projects.

Charges in the case were filed early last year. Olmert was the case in respect of bribery, while serving as mayor of Jerusalem, a former bureau chief Shula Zaken, was charged in respect of bribery and money laundering, and former Jerusalem mayor Uri Lopliansky was charged for receiving bribes.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!