http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/01/25/wisr25.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/01/25/ixworld.html
Sharon tapes 'contain stink of corruption'
By Inigo Gilmore in Or Yehuda
(Filed: 25/01/2004)
Israeli police are examining more than 50 hours of potentially explosive
taped conversation between Ariel Sharon and his sons, recorded by a former
close aide who has since turned on the beleaguered prime minister.
The scale of the evidence has been revealed by the aide, David Spector, in
an exclusive interview with the Telegraph. Mr Sharon is fighting for his
political life over a long-running scandal about murky political payments
and alleged illicit campaign financing.
Ariel Sharon: vows he won't step down
Mr Spector, 50, who is credited with planning Mr Sharon's successful attempt
to become the leader of the Likud party in 1999, believes that his tapes
could be important evidence in the police investigation into the Israeli
leader and could possibly bring about his downfall.
For many years Mr Spector recorded four-way conversations involving himself,
the prime minister and Mr Sharon's sons, Gilad and Omri, on audio and video
tapes.
Mr Sharon has consistently denied to investigators having any involvement in
campaign funding, saying that he left complex issues of financing to his
sons. In one short clip from Mr Spector's tapes that was broadcast on
Israeli television last week, however, Mr Sharon can be heard asking Mr
Spector for information on transfers from foreign bank accounts linked to
campaign financing.
Sitting in his well-appointed office in the security company he owns in Or
Yehuda, a Tel Aviv satellite town, Mr Spector claimed: "It is like a very
big puzzle, but soon the picture will become clear. These taped
conversations show that Sharon knew about everything when it came to the
finances, even the smallest details. He is in trouble. Big, big trouble."
Mr Spector said that he had made multiple copies of the tapes, which he was
keeping hidden. He said that he had also given the police a number of
documents, including lists of foreign currency accounts in Israeli banks to
which donations for the Sharon election campaign were allegedly sent.
Mr Sharon vowed that he would not step down after being named last week in
the indictment of a close business associate, David Appel. Mr Appel, a
power-broker in the Likud party, is accused of paying $700,000 - now worth
about L385,000 - that was allegedly chanelled into a ranch owned by Mr
Sharon five years ago.
It is claimed in the indictment that Mr Sharon, who was foreign minister at
the time, used his son Gilad as the middle-man in the deal, allegedly
receiving money for putting pressure on the Greek government to approve a
property development by Mr Appel on an Aegean island. In another clip from a
video tape, Mr Spector is seen warning Gilad Sharon to steer clear of Mr
Appel.
Last Thursday Mr Sharon ignored reporters' questions on the Appel
indictment, stating only that he would complete his full term as prime
minister.
The main allegations made by Mr Spector relate to the funding of Mr Sharon's
leadership bid. The Israeli leader allegedly raised more money than allowed
under Israeli law from foreign donors and is also being investigated for his
alleged involvement in an illegal L1 million loan from a South African
businessman.
Mr Spector, who left Mr Sharon's team of advisers after falling out with
Omri, alleges that his tapes - which cover the period from July 1999 to
February 2001, soon after Mr Sharon was elected prime minister - reveal that
he was personally involved in every aspect of the money transfers.
He claims that Mr Sharon - who apparently knew that the sessions were being
recorded - was captured at different times on tape, discussing how to raise
and transfer funds to various bank accounts. A senior police official said
last week that Mr Spector's evidence was "very helpful" and "contained the
stink of corruption".
Mr Spector admits that his relationship with the Sharon family has been
turbulent. After he helped orchestrate Mr Sharon's challenge for the Likud
leadership, he says that he was asked to help draw up a strategy that would
make Mr Sharon the next prime minister. Then came the falling-out with Omri
Sharon.
Even though he says he was regarded "as a brother" by Mr Sharon, he left the
team in October 2000, embittered and disillusioned. "This family is very,
very greedy." Mr Spector said.
"If you want to get to Sharon then you go through the sons. They check what
benefits there will be and if they decide it is good for the family, you can
get to Sharon."
About a year after Mr Spector quit the team, Israel's state controller began
to investigate the allegations about campaign funds. Mr Spector said that he
was shocked to learn that the Sharons were attempting to "besmirch my
character" in their testimony.
He became concerned that he might be incriminated, fearing that Mr Sharon
and his associates wanted to "pin the whole case on me". He was left with no
choice, he claimed, but to make the tapes public in order to clear his name
and show "the true face of the Israeli prime minister".
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