Subscribe to Print Edition | Mon., December 22, 2008 Kislev 25, 5769 | | Israel Time: 01:21 (EST+7)   Back to Homepage web haaretz.com Haaretz Toolbar Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate GA 2008 Travel Week's End Anglo File

Gaydamak's getaway / Fated to wander the world as a vagabond By Yossi Melman Anyone who is close to Russian-Jewish billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak, or has paid attention to his irrational business dealings over the past year, gets the feeling that the mogul's wild love affair with Israel may be coming to an end. It was clear, especially after his dismal showing in the Jerusalem mayoral election, that Gaydamak had no intention of staying in the country. He is in the process of selling off several of his properties in Israel, and this week flew to Russia for an undetermined amount of time. Advertisement Gaydamak's problems started after his economic difficulties made it hard for him to put up the $2.5 million he owed courts in cash bonds relating to a money laundering investigation. While some people said he would flee Israel on his yacht, others had the Russian mogul and former arms dealer leaving legally in broad daylight. Last week, he finally raised the money, paid the bond and left the country in a private jet. It is very doubtful whether he will come back. The doubt is not only because his assets - houses in Herzliya, Caesarea and Jerusalem, plus a number of business investments - are up for sale, but mainly due to the possibility that he may face money laundering charges. Police and prosecutors are wrapping up their investigation and intend to soon present Gaydamak with an indictment relating to his purchase of a Dutch company for tens of millions of dollars through the use of middlemen, without reporting that they were using his money. He has stated on several occasions that he would never sit in prison and would rather lose the $2.5 million in collateral than spend a day behind bars. Gaydamak was always a bit out of place in Israel. This could be seen in his style of dress, very poor Hebrew and inability - or lack of desire - to assimilate into Israeli society. His walk, manners and body language projected a measure of contempt toward Israelis and Israel. Gaydamak came to Israel after French authorities filed an international arrest warrant against him. He first arrived in France in 1973, in an Israeli cargo ship that docked in Marseilles. Living as an illegal immigrant in France, he managed to butt heads with everyone he met, from business associates to friends to the dozens of attorneys he hired and fired over the years. Gaydamak is a sort of modern-day tough guy, fated to wander the world as a vagabond. In France he remains a wanted man, the only one of dozens charged in the "Angolagate" affair who has not turned himself in to authorities. Angolagate was an international scandal wherein Gaydamak and his business partner Pierre Falcon allegedly bribed public officials in France in order to engineer mass arms shipments totaling over $800 million to Angola during the country's protracted civil war. Gaydamak welshed on a deal with the government of Angola to broker a $6.4 billion debt the West African country had accrued with the Soviet Union. Later, a Luxembourg banker who managed Gaydamak's funds pursued him over unpaid commission fees. All the scandals helped to forge the image of Gaydamak, that of a combative and quarrelsome man who lives with the powerful contention that the world is against him. His jaunt in Israel lasted four years, in which his star rose like a blazing comet to the sky, eventually falling back to Earth with the same speed. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Madoff not welcome Members of exclusive N.Y. synagogue lose collective $2 billion in Madoff scam. Under threat Shin Bet chief says Hamas rockets can hit outskirts of Be'er Sheva.

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