Private
Detectives Plead Guilty In Israel Of Spying On Michael Cherney
By
Herb Brandon
Israel News Agency
Tel
Aviv, Israel ---- April 4, 2011 ..... On March 27, a Tel Aviv,
Israel Court found private detectives Rafi Pridan and Maxim Gurevich
guilty of illegally wiretapping phone conversations of businessman
and philanthropist Michael Cherneys secretary. Pridan and
Gurevich created a plea bargain with the prosecution. Rafi Pridans
private investigator license was suspended.
On February 14, 2008,
Michael Cherney (Mikhal Chernoy) filed a suit in a Tel Aviv court
against ten people, including his former partner, Russia tycoon
Oleg Deripaska, requesting 10 million shekels in damages. Cherney
claimed that Deripaska had launched an international campaign,
including one in Israel, to discredit him. This included slander
in electronic and print media publications, street graffiti and
attempts to influence authorities by illegal means.
This case is directly
related to a lawsuit taking place in London. In November 2006
Michael Cherney filed a suit against Oleg Deripaska, his former
business partner. In this legal action Cherney demanded that he
be recognised as the owner of 20 per cent of the stock in UC Rusal
(the second largest aluminum producer in the world), or else that
he be compensated the full value of the package. The total of
the claim, including various interest and charges by June 2010
exceeded $4bn USD.
The High Court in London
has ruled against all of Deripaska's motions that challenged British
jurisdiction for the case and the court will hear the case on
its merit in April 2012.
In April 2009 Israel
publication Haaretz noted that this London suit was the
cause of Deripaska and his advisers undertaking large scale attempts
to discredit Cherney in Europe and Israel. In addition to attempting
to damage Michael Cherney's reputation, they allegedly expected
that a European country would place him on the international INTERPOL
wanted list in order to prevent him from appearing in court in
London.
A year ago, a Tel Aviv court found private detective Aviv Mor
guilty of illegal wiretaps on Cherneys secretary and sentenced
him to 14 months of prison and damages amounting to 20,000 shekels.
On 3 January 2011 an
indictment of Avigdor Eskin, another defendant in the case, was
submitted by the Attorney General's office to a Jerusalem court.
According to that bill of indictment, one of the charges against
Eskin is that in April 2007 he was contacted by Alexei Drobaschenko
who at that time was serving as the head of external relations
for Basic Element, the financial and industrial group that manages
Oleg Deripaska's assets.
The indictment details
that at a meeting in Moscow, Drobaschenko explained to Eskin and
Pridan that "people he represented are in conflict with businessman
Michael Cherney and wanted to gather information on him".
Experts opine that the next indictment will be against Alexei
Drobashenko, the former head of external relations for Basic Element
(BasEl), and that this may directly implicate Oleg Deripaska,
the owner of BasEl, in this criminal case.
Following
his repatriation to Israel, Michael Cherney (Mikhail Chernoy)
maintains business interests in Russia and post-Soviet states,
while developing new business interests between Russia, Europe,
Israel, and the US.
In Israel,
Michael Cherney spends much effort on charity and humanitarian
projects that reinforce cooperation between Israel and Russia
in fighting Islamic terrorism.
Michael Cherney
established a Website for his Foundation on June 1, 2001, the
night of the terrorist bombing outside the Dolphinarium Disco
in Tel Aviv.
Prior to 2001,
Cherney was engaged in charity work in Russia, Ukraine, Central
Asia, Bulgaria, the US - wherever he did business. He made valuable
contributions into Jewish philanthropy in Russia. Following the
Dolphinarium terrorist tragedy, the Cherney Fund became the helping
hand for all its victims. In a misfortune like this, emigres from
the former Soviet countries are even worse off than those born
in Israel: they don't have a support system or savings.
The
Cherney Foundation, offers assistance to new arrivals (olim),
victims of catastrophes and terrorist acts that continue to bleed
Israel, as well as to the low-income victims of terror in other
countries. Another equally important task assumed by the Michael
Cherney Foundation is the media effort in war on terror. Shortly
after the Dolphinarium attack, the Foundation published a book
entitled: Dolphinarium: Terror Targets the Young.
The Michael
Cherney Foundation has established grants for students from the
former Soviet Union in all major Israel universities with an annual
endowment of one million shekels.
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