The person behind the first transfer of funds (260,000 NIS)
- After examining the arguments of the parties, I saw fit to determine that the Failed to prove that the transfer of the funds was made from the defendant's money, and it seems, on the basis of the totality of the evidence presented, that there is justice in the defendant's claim that he made the transfer of the funds at the request of Haim Yehezkel, who decided to grant a loan request addressed to him by Ben-Eliezer.
In fact, apart from the very transfer of the funds (which is not in dispute) and pointing out various (not central) questions in the witnesses' versions (including the testimony of a prosecution witness), the prosecution did not present evidence of real weight that would have contradicted all the clear testimonies that were heard.
The relevant evidence and its weight assessment
- I will elaborate on my conclusion while reviewing the main evidence in this context: (a) the testimony of the prosecution witness, Haim Yehezkel, who described Ben-Eliezer's application to him for a loan and his (Yehezkel's) request to the defendant to transfer the sum of $60,000-40,000 to Ben-Eliezer; (b) The testimony of the defendant, who described Yehezkel's request to transfer to Ben-Eliezer, through him, the sum of $60,000-70,000, and his request to Asher Stoller (another partner in some of his businesses, hereinafter: Stoller) to make available to him a loan in the amount of NIS 260,000 so that Yechezkel's will can be realized and the said sum transferred to Ben-Eliezer; (c) Stoller's testimony described the defendant's approach to him for a loan, which the defendant was supposed to transfer to Ben-Eliezer at the request of Haim Yehezkel.
Testimony of Chaim Yehezkel
- There is no dispute that Haim Yehezkel, a resident of the United States for more than four decades, is a wealthy man (referred to in the defense summaries as a "billionaire"), most of whose business is in the United States, and in some of which he has been a partner with the defendant for decades.
There is no dispute that Yechezkel knew Ben-Eliezer and that there was a friendly relationship between them.