Israel's Justice Ministry filed its indictment against former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in a Jerusalem court on Sunday, charging him with breach of trust and fraud in a case that could further harm his political career. Lieberman is accused of trying to advance the career of a former diplomat after the envoy relayed information to him about a criminal investigation into the former Cabinet minister's business dealings. On Dec. 13, the Justice Ministry released a draft indictment to both Lieberman and the press. On Sunday, an amended version of that draft was filed in the Jerusalem Magistrates Court after prosecutors received testimony suggesting he was more deeply involved than previously thought in trying to promote the diplomat. The actual charges remained unchanged. Lieberman, who denies any wrongdoing, resigned his Cabinet post earlier this month after he was informed of the pending charges, though he remains a member of parliament. He did not appear in court on Sunday and had no comment on the indictment. The diplomat he tried to promote, former ambassador to Belarus Zeev Ben-Aryeh, reached a plea bargain with the state in the case earlier this year. The indictment did not address the main suspicions against Lieberman that were the focus of a years-long investigation. Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein ultimately decided that prosecutors did not have a strong enough case to charge Lieberman with illicitly receiving millions of dollars from businessmen and laundering the cash through straw companies in eastern Europe.
