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Last update - 12:25 17/06/2008 Building firm CEO who left hundreds homeless signs plea agreeing to 7 years in jail By Tomer Zarchin and Hila Raz, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Heftziba, Boaz Yona, Israel Boaz Yona, the fugitive CEO of the failed construction company Heftziba, signed a plea deal with the prosecution on Monday, agreeing to spend seven years in prison and pay NIS 4 million in compensation to the hundreds of clients who bought homes from his company and were left homeless when Heftziba went under. Chronology of the Heftziba affair: the fall, the flight and the extradition Agitated and bruised, he boarded El Al flight 382 from Milan under heavy Italian guard on his way to lock-up in Israel. "The main goal is to find the best way for all the buyers to get their homes," he told reporters on the plane. "They turned me into a thief," he said. "I want to clear my name, my father's name and the name of my entire family." Advertisement Yona said during the flight that Heftziba had collapsed because of a business problem. He said he had not fled to Europe, but had left Israel to try to solve his business crisis and give his clients the homes they had bought from him. "What Israel has done to me over the past 10 months I don't remember them doing to Eichmann," he said angrily. "Nobody built more than I did in Israel. Over the past 10 years, during the hardest years of recession, I stayed here in Israel," Yona said. "Shame on you," he shouted at reporters on the plane. "You won't judge a person before his trial. You judged me; you turned me into a thief," he said. "I ran away? Wait until you see what's waiting for me and you'll understand why I didn't come back," he said. Immediately after boarding the plane, Superintendent Avi Peretz from the national fraud squad informed Yona that he was now on Israeli territory and under arrest. Yona was seated in the back of the plane, out of concern that some of those harmed by the Heftziba affair had boarded the plane to confront him. "They suffered," he said of the buyers, "but I also suffered. My suffering was much greater." Yona showed reporters his hand, which had burns on it; he said they had been inflicted on him by other prisoners in Italy after they found out he was Jewish. Yona's plane landed at 5 P.M. and he was taken to a police car waiting on the tarmac that drove him straight to the fraud squad offices in Bat Yam. The Prisons Service decided to keep Yona in relative isolation, to prevent him from coming into contact with angry home-buyers or prisoners who may have lent Yona gray-market funds or helped him move his money before he fled Israel. Approximately 4700 home-buyers are believed to have been hurt by the Heftziba crisis. A court-appointed manager has made arrangements with most of the banks that had lent Heftziba money, to complete more than 4000 housing units. Yona's extradition was approved two weeks ago by the Italian police, paving the way for his return to Israel. He was caught in September at a hotel in the resort town of Castelnuovo near the Garda lake. After leaving Israel, he spent three days in Romania, and from there he went to Milan where he went into hiding. The Israel police, under the aegis of Interpol, mounted a man-hunt for him for about three weeks, which included the use of wire-taps and informants, until they found him. Yona's attorney, Yair Golan, initially said he would not delay the extradition process, but a few days later Yona decided to oppose attempts to extradite him. Between 600 and 700 homes in construction projects in Netanya, Hadera, Beit Shemesh, Ma'aleh Adumim, Har Homa and other sites are still waiting for funding arrangements to be made with various banks, so they can be completed. Arrangements have been made with Bank Leumi, Bank Hapoalim, the Bank of Jerusalem and Bank Mizrachi Tefahot. Some homes are weeks away from completion, others will take several months and up to one or two years until they are finished. The prosecution, led by Avia Alef, the head of the economic department of the State Prosecutor's Office, said Monday that Yona's investigation would lead to questioning and legal proceedings of others involved in the case. According to a source close to the investigation, this is a significant achievement for Yona, whose lawyer has managed to reach an arrangement for a relatively light prison term, considering the extent of the charges and amounts of money involved. The source also said that the state had waived the right to impose a monetary fine on Yona. Golan told Haaretz on Monday that the entire plea bargain was an achievement because it avoided legal proceedings that could take years and end badly. Although the police have been investigating Yona for embezzlement, fraud and other charges, Monday was their first opportunity to hear his version of events. In addition to police, Yona is being investigated by the tax authorities and the Israel Securities Authority. Related articles: The Heftziba affair: the fall, the flight and the extradition Me, fugitive? Not so, says Boaz Yona Boaz Yona hires crisis specialists 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.   Poor Mr. Yona 07:35  |  a victim of his 17/06/08   2.   only 4 Million shekels ????????? 08:45  |  Vogel 17/06/08   3.   Yona and the "crisis specialists" versus the State of Israel... 10:29  |  Esther 17/06/08

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