US embassy cable - 05TELAVIV1637

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 001637 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PTER, EFIN, ECONOMY AND FINANCE, COUNTERTERRORISM 
SUBJECT: ISRAEL AT THE CENTER OF MAJOR MONEY LAUNDERING 
SCANDALS 
 
1.  (U) Summary:  Recently, Israel has been the nexus of 
several high profile money laundering cases.  The cases 
illustrate a continuing need for effective bank supervision 
and the ongoing level of money laundering associated with 
criminal activity.  On March 6, The International Crimes Unit 
(ICU) of the Israeli National Police raided Bank Hapoalim,s 
international and private banking branch, and its trust 
company, in what was described as the biggest money 
laundering scandal ever in Israel.  The police froze over 180 
accounts with more than $376 million, and some 24 employees 
were detained, including the manager and four senior 
executives.  Customers of the branch are expected to be 
investigated in the coming days.  According to press reports, 
the operation came to light with information the ICU obtained 
more than a year ago.  In addition, the police on March 16 
arrested an Israeli citizen, Yaron Bolondi, in connection 
with "one of the largest robbery attempts in British 
history."  According to press reports, hackers planned to 
steal about $450 million from a Japanese bank in London, and 
then launder part of the funds through a bank account in 
Israel registered to Bolondi's company.  End Summary. 
 
---------- 
The Basics 
---------- 
 
2.  (U) The International Crimes Unit (ICU) of the Israeli 
National Police on March 6 raided a Bank Hapoalim branch on 
Hayarkon Street in Tel Aviv.  So far, 180 accounts have been 
frozen with $376 million of unknown origin, and the ICU is 
investigating 80 separate incidents of money laundering 
involving 200 clients.  The head of the ICU, Brigadier 
General Amichai Shai, told the press that the police had 
"convincing evidence against 45 of the 200 customers."  Some 
of the clients include leading Russian oligarchs who also 
have business interests in Israel.  Yoav Lehman, Supervisor 
of Banks at the Bank of Israel, admitted that an 
investigation had been going on at the bank for the past year 
concerning alleged suspicions of money laundering "in 
extremely large amounts," reaching hundreds of millions of 
dollars. 
 
3.  (U) The ICU also searched the head office of the bank and 
the homes of some of the bank staff, seized thousands of 
documents, and arrested more than two dozen bank employees, 
including the manager.  The manager, four senior officials, 
and 17 employees may have cooperated with the affair. 
According to press, workers at the bank, who were often 
commended and compensated for their superior performance, 
failed to report suspicious movements carried out in the 
bank,s accounts to the Israel Money Laundering Prohibition 
Authority (IMPA), nor did they identify the customers or the 
source of money.  Yehuda Shaffer, Director of the IMPA, told 
Ynet on March 7 that the intention of the employees was not 
to report to the authorities, and that the prison sentences 
for this could be up to 10 years. 
 
4.  (U) The ICU did not rule out the possibility that the 
bank's senior management at the national level would be 
interrogated if there was any suspicion that they had any 
knowledge of activities at the Hayarkon branch, which only 
handles foreign customers.  The ICU is also investigating a 
branch in Paris which has been suspected of money laundering 
in the past. 
 
--------------- 
The Money Chain 
--------------- 
 
5.  (U) The three primary methods of suspected money 
laundering the police uncovered were pipeline accounts, 
"splitting up," and back-to-back (B2B) transactions, or loan 
and cover.  Businessmen deposited large sums of black money, 
possibly obtained through criminal acts, from bank branches 
abroad to the accounts of straw individuals at the Hayarkon 
branch in Tel Aviv, and then withdrew the funds the same day 
-- sometimes within minutes -- or a few days later to return 
it to straw companies overseas.  The straw individuals and 
companies helped obscure the route of the funds.  The 
businessmen also practiced "splitting up," referring to 
splitting up the transactions into amounts under NIS 1 
million to avoid reporting to the IMPA, possibly with 
guidance from the bank employees.  With B2B transactions, the 
businessmen deposited millions of black dollars into accounts 
at the bank, and the bank would then grant them loans up to 
the amount deposited.  The businessmen would subsequently 
transfer the clean loan funds abroad, and the debts to the 
bank would be covered by what remained in the accounts or by 
other sources of funding. 
 
------------------------------ 
Millionaire Vladimir Gussinsky 
is Again a Suspect... 
------------------------------ 
 
6.  (U) Vladimir Gussinsky, an Israeli-Russian citizen who is 
part owner of Maariv, is thus far the most senior suspect in 
the money laundering scandal.  According to reports, the 
police raided his office in Tel Aviv and seized documents as 
part of the investigation under suspicion that he transferred 
millions of dollars to the bank without reporting the source 
of the money.  The police suspect that this money may be from 
criminal activity.  Gussinsky has been arrested and accused 
of money laundering several times since 2000 by Russian 
authorities, but he has never been convicted.  He maintains 
he is a victim of "political persecution" and that the 
Russian government is trying to control his independent news 
media.  Yediot Economic Editor Sever Plotsker, however, 
commented on March 7 that the police raided Gussinsky's 
office because the police had to reach "the money launderers 
themselves, the really heavyweight criminals."  The Israeli 
Ambassador to the U.K., Zvi Hefetz, has also been mentioned 
in connection with the story. 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
A Stain on the Israeli Commercial Banking System 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
11.  (U) Media pundits, although not particularly concerned 
with Bank Hapoalim's stability because it is the largest bank 
in Israel, noted that the investigation is a blow to the 
Israeli banking system as a whole.  Yediot's Plotsker wrote 
that Israel's banks will be forced "to function under a dark 
cloud," and will have to repair the damage done to the 
reputation of the banking system. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
Israeli Citizen Connected to British Robbery Case 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
12.  (U) The Israeli Police National Fraud Unit on March 16 
arrested Yaron Bolondi on suspicion of fraud and attempted 
money laundering in connection with "one of the largest 
robbery attempts in British history."  According to press 
reports, various individuals around the world planned to 
electronically steal NIS 2 billion, approximately $450 
million, from the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation's 
London branch, and launder the money through accounts in ten 
different countries.  Investigators said at least one of the 
accounts that would have been used was registered to 
Bolondi's Waro Fuel Marketing company. 
 
13.  (U) Bolondi was allegedly going to launder about $41 
million of the stolen funds in Israel, but according to press 
reports, Bolondi's lawyer said his client thought the request 
to launder the money was a joke.  Bolondi maintains he does 
not know the people involved in the affair.  According to 
press reports, Israel is cooperating with the British 
National Hi-Tech Crime Unit on the investigation.  British 
detectives are currently in Israel participating in Bolondi's 
interrogation. 
 
********************************************* ******************** 
Visit Embassy Tel Aviv's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/telaviv 
 
You can also access this site through the State Department's 
Classified SIPRNET website. 
********************************************* ******************** 
KURTZER