The Tel Aviv Magistrates Court today declined to convict Africa-Israel Investments Ltd. (TASE:AFIL) vice chairman Nadav Grinshpon on charges of insider trading, and sentenced him to 200 hours of community service. Grinshpon, 37, is considered Africa-Israel chairman Lev Leviev's right-hand man.
Judge Mordechai Peled partly accepted the plea bargain Grinshpon reached with the Prosecutors Office, in which he admitted obtaining insider information about negotiations between Lev Leviev's private company, Memorand Management (1998) Ltd., though which he controls Africa-Israel, and fashion chain Fox-Weizel Ltd. (TASE: FOX).
Judge Peled, however, rejected the terms of the plea bargain for Grinshpon to pay a NIS 750,000 fine. The judge ruled that if there was no conviction, no fine could be levied against the defendant. He ruled, instead that Grinshpon would donate the NIS 750,000 to educational institutions according to a special mechanism set up by the parties.
"It is not possible for the fine to be levied without a decision not to convict, since a fine is a clear penalty like jail time," said Judge Peled. "In the complete matter brought before me, in which it turns out that Grinshpon has taken full responsibility for his conduct and his statement itself serves as a deterrent message related to the clear ban of providing insider information, even when no personal profit results from the delivery of this information, it is possible to support the parties' agreement, and not to convict Grinshpon in law."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 15, 2010
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