Sharon and son probed for election fund-raising

The new investigation comes in the wake of last month's state comptroller's report on pre-election financing violations.

According to Ha'aretz, Eliezer Goldberg's Sept. 30 report states that most of the funding received by Sharon during the primaries came from abroad via Annex Research Ltd., which paid out $1.4 million to people supplying services to the candidate. After Sharon was elected, a portion of this sum was paid to members of the salaried team that also conducted polls for the Likud leader.

In response to the report, Sharon said that his son Omri alone dealt with money matters. The premier also pledged to return any money illegally received, something he has already started doing.

In a statement, Sharon said "he and his son "have full faith in the judicial system" and that the decision taken was acceptable to them.

The prime minister added, "Since the comptroller's report determined that these were illegal contributions, I intend to return the money to Annex so that it can be returned to the donors."

According to Ha'aretz, the probe is expected to focus on alleged infringements of the Parties Law, namely activities relating to funding for the Likud primaries that were held on Sept. 2, 1999. Goldberg said in his report that he was not authorized to act in connection with suspicion of criminal activities resulting from this law. Violation of this law also does not expose the parties to monetary sanctions.