Subscribe to Print Edition | Thu., January 08, 2009 Tevet 12, 5769 | | Israel Time: 02:02 (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 Joy of Giving Travel Week's End Anglo File

Yigal Arnon conned me, Piotrkowsky claims By Amit Benaroia and Nurit Roth Former banker Shlomo Piotrkowsky shocked the court on Monday by presenting a wholly new version of a thoroughly chewed-over aspect of his legal tug-of-war with lawyer Yigal Arnon, over a 1% stake in Cellcom. Piotrkowsky admitted for the first time that yes, he'd signed a document to hold the Cellcom shares for Arnon in trust. But he claims he was conned and the document is meaningless. "He exploited my naivete," Piotrkowsky told the court the following day, yesterday. "Should I have known that everything with him is smoke and mirrors and posturing? Look how this lawyer thought out every move. It's infuriating. It was a sting and I simply didn't put it together. I was a tool to serve his purposes." Advertisement To make things clear, Piotrkowsky currently holds the shares. Arnon claims he owns the stake and Piotrkowsky has to return it to him, as well as NIS 17 million in dividends that Piotrkowsky received from Cellcom. Piotrkowsky claims that the shares belong to him. He says he bought them after Arnon waived his option to do. Piotrkowsky formerly served as chief executive of First International Bank of Israel, while Arnon was its chairman. Under questioning in court yesterday, Piotrkowsky said that during a board meeting at the bank in May 1996, Arnon, not only a colleague but a close friend, asked him to sign a document that would enable him, Arnon, to receive tax benefits by waiving his right to buy Cellcom shares. Non-paper paper Piotrkowsky says he suggested discussing the issue with accounting expert Zeev Feldman (who also served as CEO of FIBI for a period of time). But, he says, Arnon told him the document was a "non-paper paper," meaning, non-binding. "He was my friend and my lawyer, so I signed," Piotrkowsky says now. Arnon's lawyer, Ram Caspi, yesterday returned to this "non-paper paper" and asked Piotrkowsky if he'd told his lawyer that the document wasn't binding. Yes, said Piotrkowsky, but he didn't remember when. "If Yigal had told me to run a red light, I'd have done it," he told the court yesterday. Caspi wouldn't let go: "What did the document mean?" "The document means nothing," Piotrkowsky answered. "It means that it has no legal meaning." Why would Arnon have wanted his friend at the time to hold property in trust for him, anyway? Because he was fighting with his wife at the time, now his ex-wife, and the 1% stake in Cellcom was worth NIS 20 million. Arnon supports his version of events with the trust document signed by Piotrkowsky. Originally, Piotrkowsky argued that his signature on the trust document had been forged, and that the paper had been tampered with. In December 2006, he went so far as to ask the Tel Aviv District Court to have the laboratory of the Zurich police department (which has the best forgery detection technology) examine the paper. He claimed that changes had been made to the document without his knowledge, and that he hadn't signed it, ergo, his signature had been forged. The court agreed, and the trial was halted until the Swiss lab could examine the document. And half a year ago, the lab ruled that the paper was genuine. Back in court The trial resumed yesterday - let it not be said that the mills of justice grind too fast. The cross-examination of Arnon was completed, and the examination and cross-examination of Piotrkowsky began. Piotrkowsky did not cavil at attacking Arnon at a personal level: "It's a shame there are lawyers like that," he told the court, as well as, "How can it be that a pillar of the legal system [like Arnon] can behave this way?" According to Piotrkowsky's version, when Cellcom went public in the mid-1990s (it was floated on Nasdaq), 1% of its stock was offered to Arnon. But Arnon waived the deal after discovering that he couldn't get a non-recourse loan to buy the shares. A non-recourse loan means one that he wouldn't personally guarantee - it would be backed by the assets being bought, in this case, the Cellcom shares. Piotrkowsky says he bought 1% plus the 1% that Arnon had refused, after which Arnon contacted him and said he deserved something for waiving that 1%. Piotrkowsky says he figured Cellcom would be a roaring success and that he'd give Arnon "something, out of friendship." During his testimony yesterday, Piotrkowsky was confronted with money transfers that Arnon made and presented in order to prove his connection with the 1% Cellcom stake. Piotrkowsky said it was clear to all at the time that the money transfers did not confer possession of the shares to Arnon - they were simply accounts between the two men. Ram Caspi, another brand-name lawyer who in this case is representing Arnon, asked Piotrkowsky if it was true that when he quit First International Bank, he confirmed to another lawyer, Yaakov Neeman, that half his 2% stake in Cellcom was being held in trust for Arnon. Piotrkowsky answered that Neeman was lying. Caspi then asked about a meeting that took place in 1995, with lawyer Ziv Sharon of Alter & Co., during which Piotrkowsky allegedly confirmed that he was holding the stock in trust for Arnon. Piotrkowsky countered that Sharon was making things up. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Humanitarian initiative There is a way for Israel to prove it is committed to universal moral values. Top Targets An Islamist site is compiling a list of U.K. Jews to target over Gaza op.

Read & React Bradley Burston / A Jew's prayer for the children of Gaza Responses: 52 IDF: Shelled UN school in Gaza used as hideout by Hamas Responses: 100 ANALYSIS / Using aggressive tactics in Gaza to save soldiers' lives Responses: 23 Venezuela's Chavez: Gaza operation is a Palestinian 'holocaust' Responses: 26 Amira Hass: Lucky my parents aren't alive to see Israel bomb Gaza Responses: 40 More Headlines 23:29 Israel bombs south Gaza tunnels, tells local residents to flee 01:09 Barak: If cease-fire deal doesn't meet Israel's demands, Gaza operation will continue 21:55 Clashes resume in Gaza City after 3-hour humanitarian truce 22:58 Rice: Gaza truce needed, but must not allow return to 'status quo ante' 18:30 Defense sources: Even if Hamas agrees to truce, its armed wing may resist 23:37 25 Gaza rockets strike Negev over course of Wednesday 21:27 Obama vows to 'engage immediately' on Mideast once inaugurated 12:57 A Jew's prayer for the children of Gaza 18:20 Get up to the minute coverage of the warfare in Gaza directly to your email 11:35 ANALYSIS / Israel must double, triple, quadruple its medical aid to Gaza 14:34 Report: Islamist site compiling list of U.K. Jews to target over Gaza op 20:40 In battle for public opinion, IDF Web site puts female face forward 16:14 Israel defers vote on expanding Gaza ground op amid growing truce bids 22:00 Joe the Plumber named conservative Web site's war correspondent in Israel 14:53 Nasrallah: Hezbollah will make Lebanon war look like 'a walk in the park' 01:51 German court rules Nazi hit man unfit to stand trial 01:24 IDF reserve forces receive fictitious calls for duty in Gaza 21:35 WATCH: Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Zalman Shoval on Gaza conflict 21:33 U.S. rabbi raises $100,000 to buy care packages for IDF troops in Gaza 14:19 Amira Hass / 86 hours after Gaza home shelled, family still lacks medical aid Previous Editions Select Day 07 jan 06 jan 05 jan 04 jan 02 jan 01 jan 31 dec 30 dec 29 dec 28 dec 26 dec 25 dec

Special Offers Advertisement Summer in Israel Israeli style - Tzofim Chetz V'Keshet 2009 You can make a direct IMPACT! on the life of an Israeli soldier State of Israel Bonds During this time of market volatility, Israel bonds can help. SURF RAMBAM Keep current about new-wave medical care, education and research. Summer Camp in Israel The best place for your children this summer Academic Studies in Israel All the Q & A at the IDC HERZLIYA Open House, January 9,2009 Fattal Hotel Chain Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel. Eldan Rent a Car Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations Jewish Singles Personal Ads Find the love of your life on JDate.com Junkyard Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt

Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |

Real Estate in Israel | Travel to Israel with Haaretz | Hotels Israel | Restaurants Israel | Tourist attractions Israel | Shops Israel

birthright Israel | Search engine marketing

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved