Sapphire & Barkat Real Estate Ltd., owned by Rami Levi and Nahor Ltd., today asked the Court for Administrative Affairs to cancel its purchase of the controversial north part of the Holyland residential project in Jerusalem from the project's court-appointed trustees. The land is owned by Nidar Construction and Development Ltd., one of the Holyland's developers, which has a stay in proceedings. Sapphire & Barkat claim that they cannot develop the project because of the Holyland corruption scandal that erupted in April 2010.
Sapphire & Barkat claim that it made every effort to keep the sale agreement, including asking the Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein about his position on developing the project, in view of the corruption scandal.
In August 2010, the Israel Police concluded its investigation and recommended that the State Prosecutor indict most of the suspects, up to and including former prime minister Ehud Olmert, his former bureau chief Shula Zaken, former Jerusalem mayor Uri Lupolianski, and businessmen Dan Dankner, Avigdor Kelner, and Hillel Cherney. No indictments have yet been filed.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 20, 2011
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