Following the Israel Securities Authority's recommendation that former Ministry of Communications director general Shlomo Filber be indicted in the Bezeq Israeli Telecommunication Co. Ltd. (TASE: BEZQ) affair, two other associations of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be questioned today in the submarines affair.
The associates, Advocate David Shimron and another senior lawyer, who were questioned yesterday under caution in the submarines affair, will be summoned today for additional questioning. The other lawyer, who was Netanyahu's emissary, is suspected of breach of trust, and has been barred from traveling abroad.
Shimron and the other lawyer were questioned separately yesterday for 15 straight hours. The questioning of the former emissary focused on his international activity in recent years.
According to evidence given by state's witness Michael Ganor, the former emissary, who has business dealings with Shimron, took advantage of his international status to promote the submarines deal with political figures in Germany. He is suspected of helping Shimron, who represented Ganor.
The two veteran well-known and well-connected lawyers, who represented the prime minister on various missions in recent years, were taken from their homes by the national police unit for combating economic crime at 6:30 AM and questioned in the unit's offices. Shimron has been a suspect in the affair from the beginning, while the other lawyer was questioned under caution yesterday for the first time (that is the reason that publication of his name was forbidden as of web posting).
The affair concerns the process of purchasing three submarines and four surface ships from German corporation Thyssenkrupp, which was represented in Israel by Ganor. Ganor was represented by Shimron, his cousin and associate, who is also Netanyahu's lawyer.
It is suspected that the decision to procure the vessels by the heads of the defense establishment was motivated by improper considerations involving a conflict of interest and payment of a bribes to Ganor, former Israel navy commander Eliezer Marom, former National Security Council deputy head Avriel Bar-Yosef, and others.
The police and the State Attorney's Office decided to question Shimron again and the other Netanyahu associate for the first time due to information received in recent weeks from Ganor. Ganor says that Shimron, who is suspected of fraud, was not only Ganor's legal advisor in handling the legal aspects of the submarines deal, but was also Ganor's business partner, and shared in Ganor's profits from the deal. According to Ganor, Shimron was to have received $10 million (NIS 35 million) if the deal went through. Shimron denies Ganor's story.
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on November 6, 2017
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2017