After three and a half years of legal torture, the dark cloud over former Psagot Investment House Ltd. CEO Roy Vermus has been lifted. On Tuesday, he signed a settlement with the prosecutors to close the case in the alleged fraud at Psagot's nostro account. Under the settlement, the parties agreed that no indictment will be filed against Vermus in the case, and in exchange, he will pay a NIS 500,000 fine to the state within 60 days. Afterwards, he will again be allowed to serve in a senior position in a supervised entity.
At the same time, the prosecutor also closed the case against former Psagot Securities CEO Shay Yaron, for lack of evidence.
Under the settlement, Vermus stated, "He has, and will have, no claims of any kind regarding the period in which his employment was restricted." For two and a half years, he was restricted from holding a senior position in the capital market. His waiving of any claims is an insurance policy for the state that he will not sue it for being forced to forego desirable positions when he was at the peak of his career.
Vermus and Yaron were suspected of securities fraud and aggravated fraud in the nostro account of Psagot Securities with regard to swap tenders by the government in September 2007 and in November 2009. They were also suspected for fraud in government and corporate bonds at different times in 2007-09.
Vermus's attorney said in response, "We are pleased that the prosecutor has accepted the claims made in the hearing and decided that there was no reason to indict Vermus.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 24, 2013
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