Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit has ordered experts in the State Attorney's Office to investigate claims by French Jewish billionaire Arnaud Mimran that he donated around 1 million euros ($1.1 million) to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fund one of his election campaigns. The investigation will also involve the Israel Police, and a decision will be reached as to whether to open a criminal case in the matter. Mimran's claims came to light as part of a sting operation against him in France. He claimed that the contribution had been transferred without being reported to anyone, and was never repaid. Mimran has been indicted in France for his alleged involvement in a massive fraud case involving the French government. The estimates on the extent of the fraud range from 282 million to 1 billion euros. An investigative report by the Haaretz newspaper and the French site Mediapart described the ties between Netanyahu and Mimran and said that the Mimran family, Arnaud and his father, Jacques -- a wealthy industrialist and heavy contributor to the Jewish community in France -- maintained close ties with the Netanyahu family. The Prime Minister's Office issued a statement saying, "Mr. Netanyahu did not receive illicit contributions from Mimran, and any other claim is a lie. Mimran contributed to Netanyahu's public activity in the early 2000s, when Netanyahu was a private citizen and did not hold any public office. This activity included media appearances and a number of public diplomacy trips on behalf of Israel, and was done in accordance with the law." The Prime Minister's Office also said that "Mimran, who is facing trial for [alleged] fraud amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars, is trying to deflect attention from his trial though another act of fraud."
