Just a year and three months after beginning to serve the three-year prison sentence handed down to him for securities offences, former IDB group controlling shareholder and chairman Nochi Dankner is free. This morning, Dankner, once one of the most powerful men in the Israeli economy, passed through the gates of Nitzan Prison, and turned from a prisoner behind bars to a person under suspended sentence.
Dankner's release follows the decision by the Israel Prisons Service Parole Board last Thursday to approve his request for early release on the grounds of his past contribution to Israeli society and lack of previous convictions, and the fact that the state president, Reuven Rivlin, had granted Dankner a pardon, commuting part of his sentence to a suspended sentence, because of his declining health. The State Attorney's Office expressed no objection to freeing Dankner from prison early.
Dankner told the committee that he now realized that the offences he committed were serious, that he regretted his actions, and saw them as a grave mistake. "I acted hastily," Dankner said, "and contrary to the way I had conducted myself up to that bitter and reckless day. All my life, I have been a law-abiding, decent, and honest person."
In giving the grounds for its decision, the Parole Committee said that the prisoner's release posed no danger to public order, and cited his good behavior during his prison term, the substantial rehabilitation program he had undergone in prison, and the continuing rehabilitation program that he was obliged to undergo after release. Dankner is also obliged to report to the police once every two weeks until the end of his suspended sentence in March 2021, and may not leave the country.
Dankner was convicted of share pegging in connection with an equity offering in 2012 by IDB, which was in financial difficulties.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on February 2, 2020
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