An article by Itay Rom, which was published on March 16, 2011, on the Internet site, which reviews an arbitration proceeding held in England. In the arbitration process our firm represented the defendants and the arbitrator accepted the claims of our firm, harshly criticized the Leviev Group and even charged the Leviev Group with expenses of hundreds of thousands of shekels. In light of the arbitration ruling, the Leviev Group withdrew a $ 17 million lawsuit filed in arbitration against the LCIA in London against the Sinbati group represented by our firm.
The article can be found at:
Http://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1000630904
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Leviev withdrew a $ 17 million lawsuit against Benny Synbati
Lev Leviev has filed a lawsuit filed in London against Benny Synbati, alleging that he defrauded him of a gold mining venture in Kyrgyzstan - after the arbitrator criticized him and accepted Synbati's allegations.
16/03/2011, 20:34 Send a comment in Mailaiti Rom
Lev Leviev has filed a $ 17 million lawsuit filed in London against Benny Synbati, a former partner in a gold mining venture in Kyrgyzstan, and against other shareholders in the partnership.
This is a lawsuit filed by the International Arbitration Tribunal in London, a Pendale company owned by Leviev, which included very strong allegations of fraud by Synbati.
Leviev dismissed the lawsuit following a partial ruling by the arbitrator, which implied sympathy for Synbati and criticism of the Leviev group. The arbitrator ordered Leviev to pay the defendants' legal expenses in the amount of hundreds of thousands of pounds.
The ruling received legal claims from two of the shareholders that the London Arbitration Institution has no authority to hear their case - and did not go "into the thick of things" regarding the mutual parties' allegations of fraud regarding the mines in Kyrgyzstan.
The arbitrator noted that "Synbati is a very sentimental person, but sentimentality is not equal to lying ... I accept his testimony on issues I should have decided, although I must make it clear that I do not rule on the substantive issues."
Regarding Adv. Yitzhak Poren, Leviev's attorney, the arbitrator ruled that she could not accept his version regarding the statements made by Synbati's attorney.
A spokeswoman for the Leviev Group responded: "The group and its various companies are conducting a number of legal proceedings against Synbati and others who were involved with him in the injustices committed against her.
"The group requested on its own initiative at this stage to stop the procedure conducted in London, among other things after it became clear that Synbati, despite receiving millions of shekels in the contract with the group, has no property in Israel registered in his name, and foreclosures issued against him in other proceedings. "It also turned out that assets he owned were transferred in bizarre transactions to third parties such as his family members. The group of course reserves the right to reopen these proceedings at any given moment."
Advocate Shlomi Turgeman, Synbati's attorney, responded: "There is no dawn to the Leviev Group's response. The reason why the procedure was canceled in England at the group's request was the group's claim that the English arbitrator had ruled permanently against the Leviev group that she could not be released from them, while charging the group about £ 400,000 in favor of Synbati and others. For this reason alone, after realizing that the cost of the procedure would be high, the procedure was canceled. "
It should be noted that in a letter sent by the law firm Aserson, representing Leviev, to the court, about 3 weeks after the aforementioned ruling, it is stated that indeed the decision to withdraw the lawsuit also stems from the arbitrator's tenure.
The attorneys note that in Leviev's company, "specific concern" arose as a result of the court's rulings that the group's application was "materially defective." Therefore, it was written, Leviev's company "has no other reasonable option other than to withdraw the application."
In addition, it is written, "According to his conduct since the arbitration began and based on investigations conducted in Israel at the time, Pendale developed a real fear that Synbati would try to make himself immune from ruling," so there may be no feasibility in continuing the proceedings against him.
Regarding the proceedings in Israel, Adv. Turgeman stated: "In a reply submitted to the court, the Leviev Group half-heartedly claims that the proceedings were canceled because they did not find assets registered in Synbati's name - which did not prevent the group, in a conflict of interest, from filing a false claim for 7 million Shekel against Synbati, arguing that re-examined balances indicate a synbati debit balance.
"We have filed a lawsuit and have not found any amended balance sheet or accounting document to attest to the unfounded claim, nor have requests for such documents been granted.
Synbati responded: "I am convinced that in this affair, Leviev's real face will be revealed to the general public in Israel."