The Israel Money Laundering Prohibition Authority is investigating the "heart patch" deal. The Authority is investigating whether the deal, which now appears fabricated and fictitious, was actually meant for the purposes of money laundering.
The theory being examined is that the deal whereby SafeSky was to have received $370 million from a Taiwanese company that denies any connection, was intended to serve as a cover story for money from problematic sources that the partners Dr. Amos Buchnik and Arik Klein wanted to deposit in Israeli banks in order to launder it.
A week ago, to men turned up at a commercial branch of Bank Leumi in Tel Aviv seeking to open an account in the name of a recently formed company. They also stated that $40 million would be transferred to the account from an unnamed government source in the Congo.
At around the same time, two men, possibly the same pair, came to a branch of Bank Pagi of the First International group, made a long presentation of a holding company with subsidiaries around the world. These businessmen too said that, within a few days, $40 million would come into the account from an African government.
At Pagi, the staff recognized one of the men as Buchnik, who holds a personal account and a business account for his dental surgery at the branch. At Bank Leumi, the staff questioned the large transfer expected from a problematic African country. The two then brought up the name of Hagai Hadas as a manager and director of the company, a business partner, proudly mentioning his record as a senior figure in the Mossad with connections in the security services of various countries, and the new person in charge of negotiations for the release of Gilad Shalit. As far as is known, Bank Leumi refused to open an account.
Both incidents were immediately reported to the Money Laundering Authority. Within a few days, the pair were identified as Buchnik and Klein.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on July 9, 2009
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