Former Olmert aide Shula Zaken grilled by police in Cremieux house affair

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Shula Zaken, formerly head of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's bureau, was called in for a four-hour questioning session at the National Fraud Unit's headquarters in Bat Yam on Monday over Olmert's $1.2 million purchase of an apartment in Jerusalem in 2004, known as the Cremieux affair. Police are examining the terms of the purchase - Olmert has faced long-standing suspicions, according to which he purchased the apartment on Cremieux Street in Jerusalem from its developer, the Alumot MG Engineering Corporation, at a significant discount, while serving as acting prime minister, in exchange for shortening the bureaucratic processes within the Jerusalem municipality for Alumot. Law enforcement officials have been quoted as saying that police made progress in the Cremieux investigation, and that detectives hope to complete their enquiries after the Talansky cash envelopes and Olmertours investigations are complete. Police are likely to also question Olmert over the home purchase in the future.