Last update - 00:00 31/08/2007
Extradition process for fugitive CEO of Heftsiba to start this week
By Meron Rappaport, Roni Singer-Heruti and Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondents, and Haaretz Service
The extradition process for the fugitive CEO of collapsed property firm Heftsiba will start this week when the formal Israeli request is filed in Italy.
Boaz Yona, who is suspected of embezzlement and fraud, among other offenses, was in hiding in the Italian resort town of Castelnuovo del Garda when he was arrested on Thursday night.
However, the extradition process could last up to two months, depending on the Israel police's ability to convince the Italian court that the evidence against Yona is conclusive, and on the extent to which Yona resists extradition.
Yona's attorney, Yair Golan, told Haaretz on Saturday that he doesn't "expect Yona to delay the extradition process." If his expectations prove true, he could be extradited in a matter of days or weeks.
According to the extradition agreements with the European Union, Israel may demand the extradition of a suspect only if there exists sufficient evidence to indict him. The Italian court will have to examine the draft indictment prepared by the prosecution against Yona, and then decide whether it meets the required level, police source said.
If Yona decides to conduct a legal battle in Italy to prevent his extradition, the ensuing process could take from 40 to 60 days, during which the court would have to determine whether to transfer him to Israel or to release him altogether, the sources said.
Yona was surprised by his arrest, Milan's chief detective Francesco Messina told Haaretz on Friday.
Messina said the executive was located in a quick operation, and that Italian police waited for him along with their Israeli counterparts. Messina said Yona was arrested while his wife and two children were in the car with him.
"A BMW approached the hotel," Israeli police officer Dror Asraf, who conducted Yona's capture operation together with his Italian counterparts, told Haaretz. "Tamar [Yona's wife] was driving, and I saw Boaz sitting beside her. When he came out of the car, I walked behind him and called his name. He turned instinctively, saying 'Yes?' I walked up to him, put my hand on his shoulder and said 'Game's over.'"
Asraf said investigators found 45,000 euros in Yona's possession, and are now trying to locate the rest of the money that he is alleged to have stolen from his company's customers.
Police believe that although Tamar Yona told the media she did not know where her husband was, she had been with him most of the time. Yona was captured after police tracked cellphone calls made by his wife.
According to Messina, Yona arrived in Italy several days earlier, on a flight from Bucharest to Milan, after spending time in both Germany and Austria.
Yona had tried to trick investigators into believing he was in Romania. Contrary to reports in recent weeks, it now appears, however, that he spent most of the time, since fleeing Israel three weeks ago, in Italy. After leaving Israel he landed in Romania, where he stayed for about three days before relocating to Milan and its surroundings. Police are checking a report that Yona received help from acquaintances in Milan.
Yona departed Israel after his construction company, Heftsiba, went bankrupt, leaving hundreds of families who had already paid for homes empty-handed.
The Milan police asked the court to hold the remand hearing in absentia, as Yona is being held in Verona and was only be transferred to Milan at the beginning of the week. Documents pertaining to Yona's arrest were presented to the Italian judge, and he in turn complied with the police request and extended the suspect's remand.
An international warrant for Yona's arrest was issued two weeks ago, when sufficient evidence to indict him for embezzlement and fraud had been collected. An independent audit of Heftsiba found NIS 70 million had been transferred to private companies in the group since March and may have been moved to overseas accounts.