Lieberman faces allegations of fraud, breach of trust, money laundering and obstruction of justice.
By JOANNA PARASZCZUKAvigdor Lieberman 521(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman completed the second part of his two-day pre-indictment hearing on Wednesday.The hearing comes after Weinstein informed Lieberman in April last year that he planned to indict him, pending a hearing, on charges of fraud, breach of trust, fraudulent receipt, money-laundering and witness harassment.RELATED:Lieberman’s pre-indictment hearing begins Analysis: Lieberman plays it cool despite hearing During the four-hour hearing in the office of attorney-general Yehuda Weinstein, the foreign minister's lawyers - Giora Adereth and Natan Simchony of Adereth, Simchony & Co, and Yaron Kosteliz and Oded Gazit of Dr J. Weinroth & Co - gave their version for the second day.On Tuesday, the first day of the hearing, Lieberman's lawyers testified that the foreign minister had no connection to illegally obtained funds or straw companies that allegedly funneled that money, Channel 10 news reported.
They also said there is no proof that Lieberman ran straw companies before beginning his political career. According to his defense, the Lieberman was involved in "real companies" in the wine and wood trade.Lieberman is suspected of receiving millions of dollars from private business people, through straw companies, between the years 2001 and 2008, while he was a member of Knesset and a cabinet minister.The hearing had been set to begin in December, but Weinstein agreed to postpone it at the request of Lieberman's lawyers in order to give them more time to examine thousands of documents of evidence and properly prepare for the hearing.Following the hearing, Weinstein is expected to make a final decision about whether to indict Lieberman within months.JPost.com staff contributed to this report.
