Yesterday, the Haifa District Court granted an application from Israel Discount Bank (TASE: DSCT) to issue businessman Gad Zeevi a bankruptcy warning because of a $22 million debt that the bank claims he owes. The court also an ex parte injunction and a provisional foreclosure order on money due to Zeevi from the sale of the Elisha Hospital in Haifa, which he owns. Two months ago, Zvi Barinboim bought the hospital from Zeevi for NIS 180 million. Barinboim bought the activity of this large private hospital, the leading such hospital in northern Israel, but not the hospital building, which remains in Zeevi's ownership.

Discount Bank claims that Zeevi has a debt to the bank under an agreement that received the force of a court judgement, under which Zeevi is due to pay it $31 million. According to the bank, Zeevi should have completed the repayment of his debts by December 2016, but a debt balance of $22 million remains.

The debt claimed dates from 2005. The bank says that in September of that year it began legal proceedings against Zeevi and against Swiss-based Inpecos AG demanding repayment of loans. In 2006, the Tel Aviv District Court gave the force of a court ruling to a compromise signed by the bank, Zeevi, and the company, under which the company and Zeevi (as the company's guarantor) were to have paid the bank $31.7 million according to a schedule set out in the court ruling. The ruling stipulated that the final payment should be made by December 2016, but according to the bank "unfortunately the company and the debtor did not act in accordance with the court ruling, and did not make the payment due on December 31, 2016, in flagrant breach of the court order."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 24, 2017

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