Talansky questioned before testimony

Police reject allegations of leak; State Prosecution denies reports PM will be charged within 4 months.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Olmert speaks 224.88 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
Olmert speaks 224.88
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
Morris Talansky, the New York businessman at the heart of the latest police investigation into Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, was questioned again by the National Fraud Unit on Sunday, two days before he is set to provide a "preliminary testimony" in a Jerusalem court. Talansky has expressed impatience with the no-fly order preventing him from leaving the country. His lawyer, Jack Chen, has threatened to challenge the ban if it is not lifted by Monday. Talansky's "ongoing disengagement from his home in the US, his wife and business there are taking a very heavy toll," Chen said. Talansky will return to Israel next month for a grandson's wedding, he added. Also Sunday, the Israel Police rejected allegations that it was behind the large number of press leaks of vital details of the investigation. "We firmly deny, and view with severity, any attempt to hold us responsible for the leaks from the investigation into the prime minister," the police said in a statement. Detectives, led by Lt.-Cmdr Shlomi Ayalon, were working "far from the spotlights, with the aim of investigating the truth," the statement said. The police expressed regret over "the conduct of various elements who possess details of the investigation, and pass them on, due to various interests."