Synbati claims, among other things, that Leviev used S.H.G., a company that held gold mining rights in Kyrgyzstan and held only 50%, as an instrument to repay his personal debts to banks and oligarchs in Russia, and that Leviev deliberately caused the company to go bankrupt to his associates.
Telenier system 19/11/10, 09:58
District Judge Ruth Ronen rejected the claims of Leviev (the owner of Africa Israel) and the group of companies under his control when she ruled: "At this stage it cannot be determined that the claim is baseless and that there is no chance that it will be accepted." This is a lawsuit filed against Leviev and against directors in the group in the amount of ILS 2.5 billion.
"I do not believe that as far as the Leviev Group (for which the company has chosen to pay its expenses) is concerned, it can be determined at this stage of the hearing that this is an idle claim that there is no chance it will be accepted," said Tel Aviv District Court Judge Ruth Ronen. , A request for approval of a derivative claim filed by businessman Benny Synbati through Adv. Shlomi Turgeman, of Afik Turgeman and Adv.
In an appendix to its appendices, which spans hundreds of pages detailing the facts, Synbati claimed, among other things, that Leviev (the owner of Africa Israel) used SHG, which owned gold mining rights in Kyrgyzstan and held only 50%, as an instrument to repay his personal debts to banks and oligarchs in Russia. Intentionally caused the company to go bankrupt to transfer the concessions to his associates.
In her decision, following this week's hearing, Judge Ronen states: "It is not disputed that the company had gold mining concessions in the state of Kyrgyzstan, and that today these concessions are no longer in its hands. There is also no dispute that the company lost value as a result. In the past) ".
The judge emphasizes in her decision that "when a company loses all its property and is left without any property, there is no reason to determine that the lawsuit filed against the directors who control the company in this regard, is an idle lawsuit."
The defendants, members of the Leviev Group, tried in their response to the request to explain how to their approach the company lost the franchises. However, Judge Ronen states in her decision: "At this stage, it is not possible to determine as stated that the claim is baseless and that there is no chance that it will be accepted."
Synbati began operating in the 1990s in Kyrgyzstan in the field of gold mining, and in 2006 it added to S.H.G., companies from the Leviev Group in order to serve as investors and assist in the production of gold, as well as to assist Leviev in worldwide marketing. It was agreed that the company would be issued on a Western stock exchange. After control was transferred to the Leviev Group, the Leviv Group removed Synbati from the company's management, denied him access to the company and withheld information about what was happening in the company. After a while it was surprisingly announced that the company had lost all the franchises and went into bankruptcy proceedings in Kyrgyzstan. In retrospect, it turned out that foreign companies associated with Leviev's associates were continuing their gold mining operations in Kyrgyzstan, after Synbati was expelled from the joint venture.
In an application for approval of the derivative claim, which was filed by Afik Turgeman and Naschitz Brands, Synbati claims that Leviev and the companies he owned caused a sharp drop in the value of SHG, with Leviev taking advantage of the liquidation of his $ 400 million private loan that Leviev took. From a Russian bank.
The request for bail has been denied and in the coming months will take place in the courtroom of Judge Ronen, one of the most fascinating trials for the business community. Judge Ronen was recently appointed to the Tel Aviv Economic Court and was named one of the leading judges in the field of companies and economic law.
Advocate Shlomi Turgeman, who is considered an expert in the field of disputes between shareholders, stated: "This is a classic case of injury to shareholders in the company by the effective controlling shareholder. The Companies Law of 2000 includes new and extensive provisions for dealing with such cases, which will now be before the court when its decision is made. "