Former Israeli prime minister,Ehud Olmert appeared in a Jerusalem court to face criminal charges.

Olmert owning allegations of fraud, breach of  trust, registering false corporate documents and concealing fraudulent earnings,listened on Friday as parts of a 61-page charge sheet that was read out

All the charges and actions Olmert allegedly took before he became prime minister in May 2006 when he worked as a mayor of Jerusalem and later as trade and industry minister.

“I am innocent, and I am certain the court will clear me of any suspicions,” he said as he entered the courtroom.

“It is not an easy day for me. for the past three years I have been the target of an almost inhuman defamation campaign.”

Accusation

Olmert is accused of unlawfully accepting gifts of cash-stuffed envelopes from Morris Talansky, a Jewish-American businessman, and of multiple-billing for foreign trips.

As a minister of trade and industry between 2003 and 2006, he has been also charged with cronyism in relation to an investment centre.

Menahem Mazuz, the Israeli attorney-general, dropped three other corruption investigations. But in his final months in office, Olmert was subjected to repeated  police interrogations.

Israel has been tagged by scandals involving public officials including three former ministers handed prison sentences and both of the country’s most recent former presidents resigning dishonoraly.But Ehud Olmert is the first former prime minister to face criminal charges.

The former president,Moshe Katsav, has been repeatedly put on trials on several counts of rape, sexual harassment and indecent acts.

On September 1, Avraham Hirshon was jailed for embezzling one million dollars  and Shlomo Benizri for bribery and fraud, both of these were ex-cabinet ministers.

Last month, police even recommended that Avigdor Lieberman, the current foreign minister, be charged for money laundering, bribery,and impeding the justice.