Bank Leumi reveals names of secret customers
Dozens of European millionaires are shocked as Israel Police ask them to testify at trial of Bank Leumi clerk accused of theft. Existence of their accounts should be confidential, they say, but police claim testimonies reveal these accounts as being un-kosher
Dozens of the world's richest are facing charges in their countries and might have to fork out millions to their governments after Bank Leumi, Israel Police and the State Prosecutor's Office exposed their secret bank accounts to charge a local clerk of embezzelment.
According to a report by the Tel Aviv Fraud Unit, the money was probably "not kosher and possibly laundered."
The bank was reluctant to hand over to the police and court the list of names for fear that the bank would lose the customers' trust and money. Eventually the bank did give them the list so that they could charge the clerk who, according to the bank, embezzled money.
Zahava Bason (57) from Yehud has been working in the central branch of bank Leumi for 30 years. Among her responsibilities were the accounts of dozens of foreign residents. According to the indictment, Bason abused her power, stole from these accounts and received bribes from the account owners.
It all started at an internal audit that revealed that Bason was withdrawing cash from the accounts. She was questioned at the Tel Aviv Fraud Unit where she claimed to have withdrawn money at the requests of the account owners who asked her to donate the money to several organizations or transfer cash to their relatives in Israel.
'The bank is obligated to secrecy'
The bank was not persuaded by her claims and decided to prosecute her for the theft of NIS 200,000 (USD 47,000). The indictment lists dozens of foreign European residents who hold secret accounts at the bank. According to the fraud unit, the money they deposited was for laundering or concealment.
While preparing the indictment, the investigating team tried to contact the account owners but received no cooperation from them. The branch manager said they would not come to Israel to press charges. The exposed customers were outraged that the promise for complete confidentiality that they received when opening the accounts was broken and that the bank had breached their trust by revealing their names to the police.
In addition to stealing from dozens of confidential accounts, Bason is also charged with accepting thousands of shekels and British pounds in gifts from two customers whose accounts she ran. She is being charged with theft, breach of trust and accepting bribes.
Bank Leumi said in response to the case: "As part of the police investigation the bank received a court order to reveal information about the customers whose accounts had been violated. This was needed in order to have a basis for an indictment.
"The bank is obligated to secrecy unless it is required to give details by a legal authority, as in this case. The bank has no information regarding the customers' money being laundered and the bank follows all the laws related to money laundering," the bank said.
