An article by Anat Roeh, published on March 23, 2011, in Calcalist and on March 24, 2011, on Calcalist's Web site and on the Ynet website, describes Leviev's mysterious gold business as revealed in the derivative claim filed by our firm.
The article can also be found in the links:
Http://www.calcalist.co.il/local/articles/0,7340,L-3512558,00.html
Http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4047065,00.html
[Hebrew Only]
Reifman attorneys resigned: "We did beautiful things in this case"
At the end of a year of working around the clock in the service of Eli Reifman, his resigning attorneys, Shlomi Turgeman and Doron Afik, are free to defend their controversial conduct in the case. For them, it was Eitan Erez who "conducted himself aggressively and uninformed." Of themselves they are pleased: "We have done the impossible
Anat Roa and Mark Sean 14.04.10, 09: 179 Comments
"There is no frustration, but there is a feeling of missing out" - this is how Shlomi Turgeman and Doron Afik, the resigning lawyers of Emblaze founder Eli Reifman, sum up the turbulent year they have had since the opening of the proceedings against Reifman in March 2009 until their resignation earlier this week. The two do not explicitly confirm this, but it seems that the background to the resignation is disagreements with Reifman over the management of the case. According to Reifman, the background is his inability to pay for the 3,000 hours of work they invested in the portfolio, in their estimation.
Bottom line, Turgeman and Afik say, they are proud of the accomplishments they have achieved for their client, including their success in getting him released from a 50-day jail term, and the fact that to this day Reifman continues to fight for his economic recovery without being declared bankrupt.
But along with these facts, the two agree that there was something unusual in the case, especially regarding the murky relationship that developed between them and Reifman and Judge Varda Alsich and the special manager, Adv. Eitan Erez. On the scale with Reifman: When Judge Alsheikh did not believe in Reifman she also did not believe them, and when she attacked Reifman she did not hesitate to attack them either.
Why did you resign from the case?
Afik: "One of the reasons we are not in the picture is that there is a special state of 'anger' between the debtor and the special manager. Now that we are out of the picture, the special manager will have to try and talk to the debtor and start finding solutions, instead of continuing on a crusade. "Because we think we have done him an injustice here and continue to be behind him, but we are not in front of him and can not continue to be in a situation where we serve as a buffer between the special administrator and the debtor. It is time to transfer the reins."
How did you feel about the negative treatment you received from the court?
Turgeman: "I used to show up at Alshikh so I always knew what was going to happen. All the way through the discussions were excellent and so were the results. In this procedure something was different. There was impatience and a reluctance to hear the arguments or discuss them. And judgments, it would seem that here it is different from the conduct I know.The obvious comparison is to Lev Leviev, who received a different treatment, although speaking of orphans, widows and retirees, unlike Reifman, who worked with people who knew well to price the risk, their profession It is money; it is borrowed at a very high interest rate. "
How do you explain that?
Turgeman: "The court wants information and this is important to him and rightly so, but he appointed a special manager for his long arm who in this case acted in an unwise, aggressive manner. He created a non-existent reality for the court and blackened the debtor's face. Then, instead of trying to create a partnership "Action and checking the assets and what can be done, suddenly there was a war between the parties; and when the lawyers stand and do not want to be dragged into the wrong move of searching under the flashlight, they are attacked because they are perceived as helping to oblige to hide."
What do you think made you overly identified with Reifman?
Afik: "An illogical situation has arisen where the special administrator is 'annoyed' with the debtor, so any conversation should be made through the debtor's lawyers. Erez, for example, did not visit Reifman in prison at all, until we demanded it after almost two months. opal".
Turgeman: "The identity was created because it was a very intensive procedure that needed answers in a short time, and had great media coverage. But I'm sure we did the impossible in this case, both in terms of the quality of the work and the results."
What achievements will you remember from this portfolio?
Afik: "In practice, this is a case that has created several precedents. No one has ever been imprisoned in Israel in a process of contempt of court in such circumstances, and certainly not for such a long period. A re-examination of this area has been done here after decades and a huge logical leap, because the rulings from the fifties stated that if a request for imprisonment has even a hint of a feeling that stems from punishment, then the whole move is null and void. Here the Supreme Court said he was uncomfortable with the punitive part and dismissed only it. It is a matter of principle and we have done beautiful things in it. "
A lawsuit reveals: Lev Leviev's mysterious gold business
The Leviev Group is currently struggling to get back gold mining concessions in Kyrgyzstan that belonged to the S.H.G company it owns. The group claims that these are negligible and problematic assets, but the partner Benny Synbati, who is in conflict with her, claims in the lawsuit that he submitted that they are worth $ 3 billion.
Anat sees 07: 0624.03.11
The Leviev Group, which controls and partners Benny Synbati in S.H.G, which operates in the gold and metals sector in Kyrgyzstan, is currently working hard to reclaim franchises for gold mines and other assets of the company, which Synbati claims are worth about $ 3 billion. The concessions, as well as the company of a gold processing company in Kyrgyzstan, were taken from it in 2008, according to the Leviev Group due to a hostile takeover of the corrupt government in the country, and led to a fierce legal battle between the group and Synbati.
In a recent response filed by the Leviev Group in the NIS 2.5 billion Synbati District Court, the group has revealed that since the change of government in Kyrgyzstan, with the ouster of the previous president in April 2010, it has been working to get the concessions back. According to the latest update that the Leviev Group submitted to the court, in early January 2011 a criminal investigation was opened in Kyrgyzstan and it has already been determined that the concessions were illegally stolen from the company.
"Geologist ignores 12 more mines"
S.H.G was founded by Synbati in 1998 and he controlled it for eight years until the Leviev Group entered. According to him, in January 2003, geologist Yehuda Diner prepared a report regarding the value of only two mines, the Koran Jalo and Kumator, ignoring 12 other mines and without including the plant belonging to the company. The two mines were then valued at $ 24 million. An ounce of gold then stood at $ 345 per ounce, compared to $ 1,362 at the time the lawsuit was filed (and $ 1,424 as of today, A.R.), so Synbati claims that the value of these two mines alone now stands at about $ 100 million, without taking into account The geological on these mines.
Synbati claims that in January 2006, when initial negotiations began with the Leviev Group led by Representative Arie Barboy (who served as chairman and CEO of the company until he resigned as CEO in April 2008), Synbati presented Barboy a draft CPR report prepared by wardell Armstrong , Which gave the company an estimated value of $ 835 million. Here, too, Synbati clarifies that the calculation was made when the value of a gold ounce was $ 400 per ounce, while today the price has tripled, so the value of the company's franchises and assets is now no less than $ 3 billion. According to Synbati, at the beginning of 2006, the company's cash flow was meager, and he himself was in debt after carrying almost all of the financial burden on the company for years, thus paving the way for the Leviev Group to join the company.
In its claim, Synbati discloses in great detail the scope of assets available to the company at the time the Leviev Group joined it. According to the details, in 1998 the company owned about 70% of the shares in AK-TYUZ, which owns a factory located in a small village called Actios, which has about 150 residents, most of whom are employed there. The factory is 10 stories high and about 300 meters high, and for each floor the places of the factory are assigned a role in gold production. According to Synbati, the plant's processing capacity was 800-1,200 tons per day. It is estimated that the value of the plant alone was $ 60-70 million.
In addition to the plant, the company also owned franchises, including the Dolperan mine, which is 55 km from the Ofra processing plant and is considered, according to Synbati's version, one of the company's most promising areas. According to Synbati in the lawsuit, the mine Geologically estimated at least 4 million ounces by various categories.In addition, the Dolphran mine could be mined in the form of open pit, a mining method that significantly reduces mining costs and thus increases production profits.
Other mines are located in the Tessa-Kaminskaya area, according to Synbati in a large area - 364 km square, which had 12 gold and other metal mines, and the Dolphran mine was part of it (until separation). Another mine is Koran Jello, which has an area of 41.6 Sq.m. This is the company's smallest mine but according to Synbati the most developed. The mine was held in partnership with a former government company called KURANDEY, a subsidiary of KARA-BALTA acquired by a Russian businessman. Unlike the rest of the franchises Koran Jello was a mine with a mining franchise and not a gold mining franchise.
Bnei Synbetivni Synbticillum: Amit Magal
Another area is Komatar, which according to Synbati is considered a very promising mine, the geologists who worked for the company before it was managed by the Leviev Group prepared a geological survey about the area, according to which the deposit has huge gold reserves on an international scale. According to the written response to the lawsuit by the Leviev Group, in February 2008, self-interested and corrupt elements in Kyrgyzstan's government, led by the then president's son, Maxim in Kiev, began to try and take over the company. One by one all its concessions and assets were revoked. The Leviev Group, which invested $ 17 million in the company, tried to fight the denial of the concessions. In April 2010 a coup was carried out in Kyrgyzstan and the president was removed from office and his son was declared a wanted criminal. In July 2010, the State Attorney's Office in Kyrgyzstan announced that it had revealed that the company's concessions had been revoked in violation of the law. In January 2011, the Leviev Group was informed that a criminal investigation had been opened against officials at the Geology Agency in Kyrgyzstan on suspicion of illegally revoking the company's concessions.
The Leviev Group's response to the lawsuit and its appendices spans 1,428 pages, in which the group details, among other things, its claim that it was deceived by Synvesti and that some of the assets and concessions are worth far less than he claims. The reply states that in 2006 the group was presented with the CPR report prepared by wardell Armstrong, according to which the company had "astronomical value which was presented at a time when world gold prices began to rise, which made the whole thing interesting for the Leviev Group, which examined "Possibility of issuing an issue of a company owned by Russia that also deals in the gold field and believed that it is possible that even SHG's assets, as assessed in the report, may, after investing appropriate amounts, constitute an asset worthy of an issue."
It is alleged that the group entered into operations in Kyrgyzstan on the basis of Synbati's promises and representations as if it had close ties with the president, and that it had even in the past provided bribes to the appropriate bodies to obtain the concessions. However, the group claims that it soon became clear to her that Synbati had no ties to the president and that the report he presented to her was based on incorrect data and inflated the company's value disproportionately. It would be worth taking it out of the ground.
Among other things, it was claimed that the Koran Jalo is the only deposit that has a mine, unlike a deposit, but since it is an underground mine where mining is difficult to carry out and its cost is high, no significant activity has been carried out for years due to lack of economic viability. It was further alleged that the access roads to the mine were difficult and the journey by truck could take about three hours and that the main gold reserves in the mine had long been exhausted.
"Synbati Value Plays for Investors"
Regarding the plant, it was claimed that it was also shut down due to lack of economic viability. According to the Leviev Group, this is an old factory that was established during the Soviet era and was used to produce rare metals. Gold is not classified as a rare metal and the plant was not originally used to produce gold. At one point it was alleged that Synbati tried to process in the Ofra plant that contained gold, and in '01-1991 a relatively small amount of Ofra was brought from the Dolperan deposit for processing in the plant, but the experience was neither economical nor clearly profitable.
The plant was not a source of revenue for gold but was used by Synbati to present it to potential investors as an attractive and active asset in an attempt to entice them to invest in the company. It is alleged that when Synbati wanted to come with investors "to show them that the factory was working" he would transfer money to a person named Asanjan and it would use the money to recruit workers to create for the investors a semblance of a working factory continuously and real operations. In the days of repairs, the plant was closed and no lead processing was carried out. These "plays" were allegedly continued until Leviev's picture entered.
A spokeswoman for the Leviev Group said that "the company has acted and is working to protect its rights and return the assets stolen from it by various elements in Kyrgyzstan. Regarding the value of the company and its assets, although not subject to public discussion, "We make sure to blow the air for improper motives. We are sure that the real details about him will be clarified in the place he deserves - the court." Synbati is represented by attorneys Doron Afik and Shlomi Turgeman; The Leviev Group is represented by Berkman & Kasla Blum & Co..