The Phoenix Holdings Ltd. (TASE: PHOE1;PHOE5) announced on Thursday evening that several officers of the company had been summoned for questioning by the investigations department of the Israel Securities Authority. "To the best of the company's knowledge, the investigation centers on service that the company received from an associated company," Phoenix's notification said, presumably referring to suspicions of fraud at its Excellence Investment House subsidiary.
Omri Weissman, head of stock trading in the institutional clients trading room at Excellence Investments Ltd. (TASE: EXCE), and Avi Ashkenazi, owner of Maasrot Investments and Finances Ltd., have been arrested by the Israel Securities Authority.
Following Phoenix's announcement, Excellence issued a statement saying, "In the past few days, Israel Securities Authority investigators have carried out searches at the premises of the company and of its subsidiary Excellence Nessuah, and several officers of the company and of the subsidiary have been questioned. To the best of the company's knowledge, these actions were taken in connection with securities transactions between the subsidiary and Phoenix (or entities connected with it) and not in connection with transactions with the company's customers."
Weissman and Ashkenazi were arrested on suspicion of fraudulent dealings amounting to over NIS 100 million in order to profit at the expense of the investors. The suspicions are of fraud under the Securities Law, fraudulent receiving, breach of trust in a corporation, and money laundering.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 5, 2015
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