Prof. Jacob Frenkel was arrested and brought before the magistrates in Hong Kong, on the day he was caught leaving a duty-free store at the airport without paying for the item he held, states the letter by Hong Kong Department of Justice to Hebrew daily "Haaretz".
The letter from the Department of Justice principle information officer completely contradicts the version of events that Frenkel told the Turkel Committee, before he withdrew his candidacy for the governor of the Bank of Israel. The letter also states, again contradicting Frenkel, that no apology was given to Frenkel, nor did the Department Justice thank him for not seeking any compensation.
The letter states, "Dr. Jacob Aharon Frenkel was alleged on 19 November 2006 to have committed an offence of theft of a garment bag at a duty free shop at the Hong Kong International Airport. He was arrested and charged that day. He was brought before the Magistrates' Court and the case was adjourned to 11 January 2007.
"Subsequently, submissions were made by his legal representative which included submitting a statement from a friend and additional material. Dr. Frenkel claimed he wished to purchase the garment bag before boarding his flight but as he needed to go through security, he asked a friend to pay for it, who he would meet later to reimburse for the garment bag. He did not find the friend and the friend did not pay for the garment bag. Having considered the submissions and additional material submitted, it was agreed not to proceed with the case against him and the charge was withdrawn in the Magistrates' Court on 11 January 2007.
"There was no apology to Dr. Frenkel and the Department of Justice had not thanked him for not seeking any compensation."
Disclosure of the alleged shoplifting caused the Turkel Committee to ask Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to clarify the facts, as the committee has no independent investigative arm. The Ministry of Justice contacted the Hong Kong Department of Justice and Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs representative in the country.
Weinstein also drew up a list of questions for the Turkel Committee members to ask Frenkel. But before the clarification could be completed, Frenkel withdrew his candidacy and launched a public campaign against the alleged "public lynch" against him. But today's disclosure, including the contradictions to Frenkel's statements to the Turkel Committee, could shed light on his decision to withdraw. ADDON "To prevent these reports, like the ones from today, Prof. Frenkel withdrew from the job of governor. He is a private citizen, and any subsequent mention of him is distorting and improper," said Frenkel's lawyer, Adv. Eli Zohar, in response to the reports that Hong Kong authorities brought him before the Magistrates Court.
As for the media claims that Frenkel gave a number of versions about the "alleged theft of a garment bag", Zohar said, "Throughout, Frenkel gave one consistent version of events and presentation in full before the committee. Prof. Frenkel showed the committee from the Hong Kong deputy state prosecutor, in which he notified him that after consideration and a review of the evidence, it was decided to not to proceed with the case, which is what we call 'to close the case'. The same prosecutor said, 'I assume that under the circumstances, there will be no request for expenses on the part of Prof. Frenkel'."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 7, 2013
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