JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Olmert pocketed envelopes stuffed with money as he raked in almost $200,000 over 15 years, an Israeli corruption inquiry was told yesterday.

In seven hours of evidence in Jerusalem, a Jewish American businessman, Morris Talansky, painted a tawdry picture of Mr. Olmert demanding cash and other perks from him throughout their long association.

Prosecutors claim that Mr. Olmert broke Israel’s strict political laws by using the money to fund his campaigns to become Jerusalem’s mayor in 1999 and 2003.

Police estimate Mr. Olmert received about $500,000 in cash from several backers.

Mr. Talansky, 75, said he had no records of how the money was spent, but Mr. Olmert developed a taste for fine cigars, expensive hotel rooms, and first-class air tickets, all of which he did not expect to pay for.

“I only know that he loved expensive cigars,” he said. “I know he loved pens, watches. I found it strange.”

Over a period of 15 years, Mr. Talansky said he had been approached by Mr. Olmert or his representatives on numerous occasions asking for funds.

He claimed Mr. Olmert regarded backers like himself as cash cows, to be tapped for funds whenever convenient, and when the financier asked if he could pay with a check, Mr. Olmert said he preferred cash.

Even though the money was described by Mr. Olmert as “loans,” Mr. Talansky said he had not received a penny back. He said that he had been involved in numerous rounds of fund-raising for Mr. Olmert’s campaigns, but also gave personal donations.

These will be at the center of the continuing police investigation. Israeli prosecutors must now work out whether Mr. Talansky did provide the money and if so, whether it breached Israeli laws.

Mr. Olmert denies any wrongdoing but has said he would resign if charged with a criminal offence in the investigation. Mr. Talansky, who supported Mr. Olmert for 15 years before the pair fell out, said that on one occasion Mr. Olmert said his own credit card was “maxed out” and demanded Mr. Talansky pay a $4,600 bill for three nights in the Ritz Carlton hotel in Washington. Mr. Olmert also expected Mr. Talansky to foot his family’s nearly $24,000 bill for a holiday in Italy in 2003.

Mr. Talansky repeatedly voiced admiration for Mr, Olmert, saying he was drawn to a brilliant, up-and-coming politician. He said he gave the money because he believed Mr. Olmert’s views on Israel ran closely to his own.

But he said he had grown disillusioned with the Israeli leader in recent years.

Mr. Olmert had the “ability to reach out to the American people, the largest and richest community of Jews in the world,” Mr. Talansky said.