| Bank Hapoalim money laundering case continues Employees of the Department for Combating International Crime of the Israeli Police detained yesterday at Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport the famous businessman Vladimir Gusinsky, owner of the RTVi television channel and co-owner of the Maariv newspaper. Messages about this appeared yesterday afternoon on the feeds of Russian news agencies, but were later clarified. As it turned out, Mr. Gusinsky went for interrogation on his own initiative - immediately after arriving in Israel from the United States. The businessman's representative in Israel, Arnon Perelman, also told a Vremya Novostei correspondent about this. “Gusinsky’s visit to the police was agreed upon in advance, and he arrived in Israel specifically to testify. From the very beginning, Gusinsky spoke about his desire to cooperate with the investigation, so there can be no talk of any detention,” Mr. Perelman emphasized, adding that "immediately after giving evidence, Gusinsky will leave the police station."
Israeli police spokesman Gil Kleiman confirmed to Vremya Novostei the fact of Gusinsky's interrogation, as well as the fact that the businessman came to the police voluntarily and is being interrogated as a witness, not a suspect. This interrogation lasted for about five hours yesterday, after which the Israeli police announced that Mr. Gusinsky could be summoned for questioning again in the coming days.
Israeli police conducted surveillance of the 535th branch of Bank Hapoalim in Tel Aviv for a year. Police suspect that millions of dollars in criminal proceeds were laundered in this department. In connection with banking, the well-known names in Russia of Vladimir Gusinsky, Leonid Nevzlin and Arkady Gaydamak are mentioned. The Israeli police were going to summon 45 businessmen for questioning, but so far there has been no information about interrogations of bank clients, with the exception of Mr. Gusinsky.
The scandal received new developments when the Luxembourg newspaper Tageblat, citing sources in law enforcement agencies, reported that in Luxembourg, as part of an investigation into money laundering in the Israeli bank Hapoalim, the accounts of Russian oligarchs worth hundreds of millions of dollars were frozen. According to the newspaper, the Luxembourg prosecutor's office, at the request of Israel, conducted a search at the Sella Luxembourg bank and is preparing to hand over the seized documents to Israeli investigative authorities.
No other names, other than well-known ones in Russia, have yet been named in connection with the Hapoalim Bank case. But in Israel they note that the money laundering scandal surprisingly coincided with the preparations for President Vladimir Putin’s visit to this country at the end of April. Recently, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has clearly been trying to clear up misunderstandings in relations with Russia. And the case of Bank Hapoalim, in connection with which the names of Vladimir Gusinsky and Leonid Nevzlin are often mentioned in Israel, clearly corresponds to these tasks. After all, we are talking about disgraced oligarchs put on the international wanted list by Moscow on charges of financial fraud and tax evasion. Maria GRISHINA, Jerusalem |
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