According to Mr. Shimshon, he assisted his brother by means of a loan he gave him. In order to finance the purchase, he lent him ILS 5 million in three installments in May-July 2017 (hereinafter: the loan; paragraphs 49 onwards of his affidavit; and Appendix 11 there). According to him, there was a previous accounting between the brothers in which Mr. Shimshon's debt to Michael remained, so that in fact Mr. Shimshon lent him the sum of only ILS 1.770 million (ibid., at paragraph 51).
- On the other hand, Mr. Max is convinced that it was Mr. Shimshon himself who invested in the Superstock Company, became one of its shareholders, and one of those involved in its management; and all this in blatant violation of the non-compete and confidentiality clauses in the various agreements. Knowing that this is strictly forbidden, he appointed his brother as a "straw man" for the purpose of making the purchase, but he is in fact the living spirit behind it.
At first, the suspicions were discussed in light of rumors that reached Mr. Max, but according to him, the suspicions turned into evidence after a private investigator named Adi Aviani (hereinafter: Investigator Aviani) was hired. He met (on January 18,2018) with Mr. Yigal Shitrit (hereinafter: Mr. Shitrit), a director of the Super Stock Company, and this meeting was filmed, recorded and transcribed (the transcript was attached as Appendix 8 to Max's claim in Civil Case 51268-03-19).
According to Mr. Max and Max, the recording shows that Mr. Shitrit admitted that Mr. Shimshon was the real owner of the purchased shares. Hence, the registration of his brother Michael as its owner is fictitious, and the loan that was allegedly granted is also fictitious.
- As a result, on January 31,2018, Max Stock sent two cancellation letters to the franchisees in the Sderot and Bat Yam branches, demanding the cancellation of the franchises in the branches in light of the fundamental violations of the prohibition of competition and the duty of confidentiality. In these two letters (Appendix 5 to the counterclaim) it was written:
Recently, [Max Stock] has learned, and has accumulated unequivocal information and evidence, that in explicit contravention of the provisions of the franchise agreement, Mr. Naftali Shimshon is, in practice, a partner in the competing chain "Super Stock", which, like the Max Stock chain, is engaged in the sale of discounted products for the home.