Israeli businessman Josef Maiman has agreed with the Peruvian prosecutor to testify against former President Alejandro Toledo and his wife Eliane Karp (she has French, Belgian and Israeli citizenship). According to reports in the Peruvian media, the prosecutor has changed the arrest warrant against Maiman into a subpoena to give evidence.
Maiman is considered to be a very close associate to Toledo and over the years the Israeli conducted many major deals in Peru with Toledo's support. An arrest warrant was issued against Toledo and Maiman for alleged bribery and money laundering worth $20 million.
Maiman amassed most of his wealth in Central and South America and his basse on the continent was in Peru. Back in Israel, Maiman had a range of investments, the best known of which was in Channel 10, where he lost substantial amounts. He also led the large deal to import gas from Egypt through Ampal-American Israel Corporation (Nasdaq: AMPL; TASE:AMPL).
However, the upheaval of the Arab spring and the ousting of President Mubarak led to the breakdown of the deal and huge financial damage to Maiman when gas stopped flowing from Egypt to Israel. However, Maiman's operations in Peru continued to yield handsome returns and served as his main source of income.
The suspicions against Toledo stemmed from financial deposits he made into the account allegedly belonging to Maiman in Brazilian real estate company called Odebrecht. From there the money was channeled offshore into an account allegedly belonging to Toledo. Some of the money was supposedly used for real estate purchases and some kept as cash. According to the Peruvian media, Maiman has confessed to financial offenses.
There are also allegations that the Mossad was somehow involved in the affair and this is also under investigation in Peru.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 24, 2017
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