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Last update - 22:23 16/06/2008 Down to his last 1% By Amit Benaroia Tags: Arcadi Gaydamak n short, the police cost the economy billions, he sums up. Advertisement Gaydamak's incentive in granting the interview was to admonish. He burns to get his message across: "Do you understand what I mean, do you understand?" every sentence ends. Most suspects clam up - former finance minister Abraham Hirchson comes to mind. But Gaydamak is waging a personal war against the money-laundering charges, against the unit investigating the matter - the international crimes unit - and against the man who headed the division, Major General Yohanan Danino. It takes courage to take on the powers in the country, and Gaydamak knows no boundaries. He's taken out giant ads in the papers. He's called on the attorney general to decide his case, and has issued statements that border on slander. But the intricacy of the main complaint that Gaydamak filed with the Justice Ministry's Police Investigation Department indicates that his head-butting strategy with the cops wasn't a whim, it originated with his lawyers at the time - Ronel Fisher (who still represents him in some matters) and Boaz Ben-Tsur. Gaydamak has a long list of leaks and mud that he says originates with the police unit. Given the length of the investigations into his affairs and his scorn for the police, if his case is closed, it would be a disgrace for the police in general and Danino too. The police, the prosecution and the Supreme Court have the power today, not the politicians, Gaydamak begins, and quickly shifts to J'accuse. His business rivals have relationships with people who work in the police, he charges. These rivals hope to weaken him: If Gaydamak is under fire in the public, the press and the police, nobody will want to work with him, he explains in the third person. One of the informants against him was a criminal in the former Soviet Union. Here he has received shelter and Israeli citizenship, Gaydamak claims. Who is Gaydamak? An international businessman, he says, who owns four publicly listed companies in Israel and the Bikur Holim hospital. Yet attachments have been placed on his home and car because of a civil claim against him. He had been "marked", diamond merchant Lev Leviev reportedly told him during a meeting years ago. "I met Lev Leviev in Russia before the investigation into me began, and he told me to be careful," Gaydamak relates. Leviev told him he was being followed and monitored. Nonsense, Gaydamak told him then, but now he says Leviev was right. His "romance" with Danino began in 2003, says Gaydamak, two years before the money-laundering affair at Bank Hapoalim's Yarkon branch exploded. According to Haaretz writer Yossi Melman, the international crimes unit obtained a warrant to search the bank and investigate Gaydamak's account, but a mistake in the warrant's wording freed the bank to advise Gaydamak of the interest in him. Gaydamak consulted with his legal adviser at the time, Jacob Weinroth, who organized a meeting with Danino and the international crimes unit's legal counsel, Gaydamak says. Gaydamak wanted to cooperate and says the mood in the meeting was good, but he felt he should get his money out of Israel, fast. "After the conversation with Danino I decided to close down all the accounts in Israel," says Gaydamak. And come 2005, "they" announced "the biggest affair in human history," he adds with frustration mixed with cynicism. What was the Bank Hapoalim affair about? People can open bank accounts on a person's name or company name, and the international crimes unit located accounts on corporate names, Gaydamak says - yet his account was in his own name. At first Gaydamak wouldn't say where he keeps his money, but when pressed says, "In Russia, Britain and some other countries." No question, the probe into his affairs has dragged on (though to be fair, so do most white-collar investigations). In March 2006, Gaydamak representatives wrote a long letter to the police about his business and many contributions to Israeli society, and say that the investigators wanted to know only about one issue, his ownership of Kazakh Phosphates. The police claimed that Gaydamak had transferred $50 million from his account at Bank Hapoalim Hayarkon to the company's account, also at the branch. The root of the money-laundering charge, says the letter, is that the company's account had been on the name of one Menahem Galmor, the company's real owner. The money originated from selling shares on the Russian exchange, says Gaydamak. The police didn't notice that shortly thereafter, the money returned to his account: It had been a loan, he says, but ultimately hadn't been needed and was returned quickly. When he came to Israel, Gaydamak's lawyers accuse in the letter, the police eavesdropped on him and his family, and even on his car, and leveled false charges against him, charges that Ronel Fisher said "crossed all boundaries". How did he discover the bug in the car? To recover its gear the International Crimes Unit had another police division get in touch, claiming the car had been stolen and needed to be impounded for investigation, Gaydamak wrote. He had it inspected by a pro, who found the police bug. When the police returned the car, the bug was gone, and so were any suspicions that it had been a stolen car. As for Israel, his only motive for investing here is Zionism, the letter states. But he has lost about NIS 700 million on his investments here so far after putting about NIS 1 billion into his four listed companies, which are today worth just NIS 300 million. In March this year Gaydamak complained against certain International Crimes officers, including Danino. The letter contains neither their full names nor corroborating facts. A few weeks ago Gaydamak was questioned again about the Bank Hapoalim affair, but with a twist: Now the police were questioning the origin of the money, not a mere failure to report its existence, which is a lesser offense. Meanwhile, other suspects in the Bank Hapoalim case were allowed to pay NIS 92 million to wriggle out of the charges; Gaydamak says he hasn't been offered any deal. The police said he's suspected of money laundering and the investigation should end soon. His unbridled attacks and "frivolous" and "insane" accusations on them won't hinder the probe, nor are they worthy of comment, the police added. The Justice Ministry said it has been handling the complaint since March. Weinroth says he won't comment on client business. Rani Rahav, Leviev's spokesman, and Gaydamak's representatives declined to comment. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Nazi hunted Nazi sheltered by Austria seen enjoying Euro 2008 games. Battle of the attitude An 'Israeli au pair' seems to be the ultimate oxymoron.   1.   In true Israeli style 08:13  |  Citizen Joe 17/06/08   2.   I have no sympathy for this guy. 08:52  |  Jacob 17/06/08

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