The police investigation of senior managers in mobile telephony company Rami Levy Communications, a subsidiary of Rami Levy Chain Stores Hashikma Marketing 2006 Ltd. (TASE:RMLI), has been expanded to the parent company. Sources inform "Globes" that in the past few days Israel Police detained Shmuel Levy, manager of the supermarket chain, for questioning, after which he was released to house arrest for five days.
Levy was questioned on suspicions of violation of privacy under the Protection of Privacy Law and about the conduct, holding and use of a database under the same law. It is believed that Levy will again be summoned for questioning by the police. The sources said that additional managers in the supermarket chain had been questioned by the police.
This is the latest development in an investigation that has so far focused on events at Rami Levy Communications only. This development could link the company's controlling shareholder, Rami Levy, to the alleged offences.
The investigation, first revealed by "Globes", was opened in the wake of information published by Elkanah Alon, a former employee of Rami Levy Communications. According to Alon's testimony, senior managers at the telecommunications company allegedly used its security systems to monitor people with whom it was in dispute or to monitor company employees. Alon himself has given evidence to the police in the affair.
It is suspected that the supermarket chain also used information derived from the security systems of Rami Levy Communications to monitor employees and others who had dealings with the chain of one kind or another. It is also suspected that the system was used to monitor workers at the fresh produce subsidiary Bikurei Hashikma.
Sources inform "Globes" that one of the people monitored was Nurit Amiti-Rahamim, who headed moves to unionize Bikurei Hashikma workers. She too has given evidence to the police.
Besides Shmuel Levy, others so far questioned under caution are Rami Levy; his son-in-law Ofir Atias, who is CEO of Rami Levy Communications; and Shlomo Aderet-Gulian, VP operations and security officer of Rami Levy Communications. Atias is married to Rami Levy's daughter Yafit, who is VP marketing at the supermarket chain.
A further development has taken place in the lawsuit filed by employees of Bikurei Hashikma against Rami Levy Chain Stores Hashikma Marketing. The claim is that Bikurei Hashikma, Rami Levy personally, and Rami Levy Chain Stores Hashikma Marketing, violated the rights of the workers to unionize, which represents both a civil tort and a criminal offence.
"Globes" has learned that Israel Police has transferred to the prosecutor recordings that support the workers' claims. The recordings were made in November 2015 by Atias of a hearing held for the leaders of the unionization moves, Ofer Shahar and Nurit Amiti-Rahamim, and, more importantly, of a meeting that took place between Atias, Rami Levy, and two other employees, at which the strategy for dealing with unionization was formulated. Rami Levy has stated that the pre-dismissal hearings for Shahar and Amiti-Rahamim were in the course of hearings for other employees as well pending the closure of Bikurei Hashikma, which he said was a business decision that had been made without connection to the unionization activity. In the recording however, Rami Levy is heard responding to being told that members of the workers committee could not be fired by saying, "Then I'm closing the company, and that's the end of the story. We"ll transfer the business to Hashikma Marketing." Later in the conversation, those present discussed the details of how to close Bikurei Hashikma.
This recording not only casts doubt on Rami Levy's line of defense in the lawsuit, but fundamentally undermines his credibility. He is liable to have to deal both with the charge that he sought to harm unionization moves at Bikurei Hashikma and with the allegations of violation of privacy and illegal use of a database. In both affairs there are suspicions of criminal offences.
Shmuel Levy declined to respond to the report. No response has so far been received from Rami Levy.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 11, 2016
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