Gaydamak. Denies suspicions
Police: Enough evidence to indict Gaydamak
Police recommend Russian millionaire be put on trial; Tel Aviv Prosecutor's Office to make final decision
The police recommended on Thursday that Russian businessman Arcadi Gaydamak, owner of the Betar Jerusalem soccer club, be indicted over money laundering charges.
Gaydamak was recently questioned several times under warning by Petach Tikva Police's international investigations squad on suspicion of money laundering using a Bank Hapoalim accounts. Now that the investigation has come to an end, the Tel Aviv's Prosecutor's office is expected to make the final decision on whether the millionaire will be charged.
According to police, investigators found apparent evidence against Gaydamak, with the main suspicion against him involving drawing money from his Bank Hapoalim accounts just before police planned on freezing them following a confidential investigation.
During the interrogation period, Gaydamak was allowed to return home but was forbidden to leave the country and contact other suspects involved in the affair, and was ordered to pay a one million dollar bank guarantee.
Dozens of businessmen interrogated
The money laundering affair, considered to be one of the biggest such affairs in Israel's history, was uncovered in March 2005 and involved other countries apart from Israel. Some 22 Bank Hapoalim employees and senior officials and dozens of businesspeople were interrogated over their involvement in the scandal.
The investigation revealed that hundreds of millions of dollars were transferred from different countries to one of the bank's Tel Aviv branches, where they were laundered and then returned abroad. According to suspicions, the funds were obtained through criminal activities.
Gaydamak denied the suspicions against him. Speaking after one of his interrogations, he said that there were no suspicions and that the police only asked him to come and provide explanations for his business activity in Israel over the past year.
