An article dated June 16, 2010, in the Globes newspaper about a claim filed by our office on behalf of businessman Berti Sinbeti against Lev Leviev
http://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1000567410
[Hebrew Only]
Claim: "Leviev uses S.H.G to repay his debts to banks and oligarchs in Russia"
This is what Leviev's former partner in a gold mining company in Kyrgyzstan claims in a request to file a derivative lawsuit on behalf of the company against the owners of Africa-Israel
Avi Shauli and Chen Maanit
16/6/10
"The controlling owner of Africa-Israel, Lev Leviev, used S.HG as a tool to repay his debts to banks and oligarchs in Russia," according to a document submitted to the Tel Aviv District Court today (Wednesday) as part of a request for approval of a derivative claim on behalf of the company. Barty) Synbati v. Leviev, the Leviev Group and other executives in the group. Synbati began his career as an anonymous contractor in Hadera and in the 1990s began operating in Kyrgyzstan in the field of gold mining. , With good ties to the former USSR, pledged to pay him a percentage of the gold found.
The company owned gold mines, a gold processing plant; Concessions for gold mining in Kyrgyzstan and concessions for the production of gold and precious rare metals.
However, the collaboration between the two ran aground, and in December 2007 Leviev offered Synbati to acquire his share in the company at a value of $ 75 million. Alternatively, Leviev suggested, Synbati and his partners would buy his own stake at a value of $ 60 million.
The deals did not materialize and the company's future is in doubt. The Kyrgyz government later nationalized the concessions and confiscated the factory where the gold was produced, effectively emptying the company of its assets. Now Synbati is suing, through attorney Shlomi Turgeman, billions from Leviev, claiming he deprived him of their joint business in Kyrgyzstan.
Covert transactions
Synbati claims that Leviev and his partners illegally own all of the company's business activities and assets, which include mining licenses in gold deposits. According to him, Leviev secretly controls two Kyrgyz companies, which currently operate and own the country's gold mines, and which belonged to the joint company. Leviev, on the other hand, denies any connection to the Kyrgyz companies and they asked the court to delete them from the lawsuit filed by Synbati against them and against Leviev.
Synbati has other heavy charges against Leviev. He claims that Leviev remains a stakeholder in the ALLTECH Group, which claims ownership of S.H.G's assets, "by covert and illegal transactions with the controlling owner of S.H.G, Leviev."
In addition, Synbati claims that Leviev acted to dissolve S.H.G in order to use the company as an instrument to repay its debts in the Russian market. According to him, Leviev took out a loan of $ 400 million from a bank and as a result of the liquidation of the company, the bank enjoyed the assets of S.H.G.
Synbati further claims that Leviev and the companies he owned caused a sharp drop in the value of SHG. "While the value of the company before Leviev's entry was estimated at $ 1 billion, Leviev and his associates, in their actions or by default, violated any fiduciary duty or norm, "It is forbidden for the company to become worthless. The company's value was supposed to be about $ 2.5 billion," it was claimed.
No response was received from Leviev until the issue closed.