The Tel Aviv District Prosecutor (Taxation and Economics) has filed indictments with the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court against two accountants at Ernst & Young Israel Kost Forer Gabbay & Kasierer. The two men are accused of aggressive tax planning that helped the controlling shareholders at Pixel Technologies Ltd. to evade tens of millions of shekels in taxes.
The Tel Aviv District Prosecutor decided not to indict Pixel's controlling shareholders, CEO Ramy Weitz and Guy Poran, after it accepted their argument that they relied on the opinions of their accountants. The parties failed to negotiate a plea bargain several months ago.
Weitz and Poran owned a number of high-tech and multimedia companies, including Pixel, which owns the franchise to games channel Gogo for Hot Cable Systems Media Ltd. (TASE: HOT).
The accountants and the executives were arrested in 2000 on suspicion of organizing a false corporate structure to evade taxes.
The indictment includes charges of fraud and willful slyness to abet tax evasion, an attempt to obtain by fraud, lying to a tax assessor, giving false testimony, and filing false corporate documents.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 25, 2008
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