On Thursday, the Tel Aviv District Court removed the gag order on its decision to seize assets of Nochi Dankner, former controlling shareholder in IDB, and of his former partner Itay Strum, up to an amount of NIS 50 million.
The decision by Judge Sigal Yakobi follows the cancelation earlier last week of the settlement in the class action brought by IDB shareholders against the pair concerning the company's equity offering in 2012. Dankner and Strum were convicted on criminal charges in that affair and served prison sentences.
Under the settlement, Dankner was to have paid NIS 7.5 million and Strum NIS 2.5 million without admitting fault. Last week, however, Dankner informed the court that he was unable to deposit the guarantee that he was meant to receive from his brother-in-law, Ido Bergman, to cover the payment, and the settlement was therefore canceled.
Following the cancellation, the claimant, Arie Rahav, who is represented by Adv. Sinay Elias and Adv. Eitan Haimovich filed a request for a seizure order on Dankner and Strum's assets in order to ensure that it would be possible to collect payments insofar as these might be imposed on them in the course of the class action.
Judge Yakobi accepted the request and found that there was a "reasonable possibility of the claim being upheld."
The "friends' offering"
The affair of stock pegging in IDB, which became known as the "friends' offering," took place in February 2012, and Dankner and Strum were subsequently found guilty and sent to jail. The two men were convicted of attempting to manipulate IDB's share price in order to ensure the success of an equity offering that was critical to improving the company's difficult cash flow position.
Due disclosure: "Globes" is a customer of Bar Distribution, owned by Nochi Dankner's brother-in-law Ido Bergman.