Billionaire Chaim ("Poju") Zabludowicz testified in the past few days to the Israel Police Lahav 433 fraud unit concerning benefits and gifts he had given to Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu during the former's terms as minister of finance and prime minister, Channel 2 News reports.
Zabludowicz, who resides in London, has a stake in El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL) and owns the "Daniel" hotels in Herzliya and at the Dead Sea, as well as other businesses in Israel. He is also known as an art collector and a philanthropist.
Zabludowicz told Channel 2 News that he testified voluntarily in response to a request from Israel Police. He stressed that he was not a suspect and that the police had thanked him warmly for his testimony.
It was reported last week that despite earlier announcements that the investigation of the prime minister in "file 1000", concerning gifts he has received, would shortly be concluded, the police are taking a step back and are now saying that the investigation will continue for at least another two months. Much work remains to be done by the investigators, among other things questioning of witnesses overseas, the most important of whom is Australian billionaire James Packer.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 9, 2017
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2017