Court convicts Ben-Zaken, Eldar of share fraud

Jacky Ben-Zaken, Eitan Eldar
Jacky Ben-Zaken, Eitan Eldar

Jacky Ben-Zaken and Eitan Eldar have been found guilty of manipulating the share price of Financial Levers.

Tel Aviv District Court judge David Rosen handed down a conviction this morning for Jacky Ben-Zaken and Eitan Eldar for share pegging in Financial Levers (Manofim, now known as Arena Star Group) in 2010. A third accused, Zvi Kolenbrenner, was cleared of the accusations against him.

Judge Rosen said in handing down his verdict, "Ben-Zaken lied in his investigation by the Israel Securities Authority, and his blatant lies are consistent with awareness of the fact that Eldar fraudulently manipulated the share price of Manofim."

Ben-Zaken and Eldar were accused of attempting to influence the share price of Financial Levers in November-December 2010 in an attempt to get the company included on the Tel Aviv 100 Index. In July 2011, the Israel Securities Authority opened an investigation on suspicions that Ben-Zaken used traders Eldar and Kolenbrenner for this purpose. Eldar and Kolenbrenner allegedly synchronized huge orders for Financial Levers shares, boosting the share price by 5%, allowing it to be listed on the index. As mentioned, Kolenbrenner has been exonerated.

Shortly afterwards, Ben-Zaken sold his 11.5% stake in Financial Levers for NIS 97 million to his two partners in the Marcus Weber investment house, and his partner in the company, Avraham Nanikashvili.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 6, 2015

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2015

Jacky Ben-Zaken, Eitan Eldar
Jacky Ben-Zaken, Eitan Eldar
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