Heftsiba head caught in Italy
Boaz Yona, CEO of construction company that filed for bankruptcy last month caught in Italy with his wife after fleeing Israel
Police Commissioner Dudi Cohen reported on Friday that Heftsiba CEO Boaz Yona, who fled Israel after his construction company announced it would file for bankruptcy last month, was arrested in Italy.
Italian police apprehended Yona after receiving information from Israel Police. Israel will begin preparing the extradition request on Friday.
"Boaz Yona was arrested in Italy by officers of the Israel and Italian police forces," the commissioner said, "the arrest brought the end of a long chase carried out by the Israel Police's National Fraud Unit with international aid abroad.
"He was arrested in Italy near Milan along with his wife at a rest area. He is currently being investigated and his testimony is being collected. His wife of course will be freed and Boaz Yona was arrested."
Israel and Italy have joint extradition treaties and Justice Ministry sources believe at the end of a process that will take a few weeks Yona will be extradited to Israel.
Two weeks ago, the Israel Police's National Fraud Unit issued an international arrest warrant for Yona after he fled the country and broke off all contacts with his creditors.
Interpol joined the search for the fugitive and at first it was believed that Yona was in London, but Israeli entrepreneurs in Romania later reported that he was sited in the eastern European country and a wide search was carried out in the country.
However Yona apparently managed to escape Romania at the beginning of the search and fled to Italy where he was eventually captured.
