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Heftziba CEO Boaz Yona extradited to Israel, asserting innocence all the way By Jonathan Lis, Tomer Zarchin and Nurit Roth Boaz Yona, the fugitive CEO of the failed real estate company Heftziba, was extradited to Israel yesterday. 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." According to a plea bargain signed yesterday with Yona, he will be sentenced to seven years in jail, probation at the discretion of the court, and NIS 4 million in compensation to home-buyers. 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, he 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 'til 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 police 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 the Italian jail where he was incarcerated, 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. This morning he will be brought before the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court for a remand hearing. 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. 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 yesterday 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, Yona's plea bargain is considered a significant achievement for the Heftziba CEO, considering the extent of the charges and amounts of money involved. The source also said the state had waived the right to impose a monetary fine on Yona. He is to remain in jail until the end of proceedings against him. Sources also said the plea bargain, which involved Yona's cooperation with investigators and full confession of responsibility for the fall of the Heftziba group and offenses over the years, paved the way for Yona's return to Israel. Golan told Haaretz yesterday that the plea bargain avoided legal proceedings that could take years and end badly. In addition to police, Yona is being investigated by the tax authorities and the Israel Securities Authority. Among the charges he reportedly faces are aggravated fraud in the amount of hundreds of millions of shekels, conspiracy, falsifying corporate documents and money-laundering. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Religious pressure Tel Aviv supermarket chain agrees gradual Shabbat closure. Overgenerous diplomacy UN envoy: Israel has given Syria a 'huge gift' for free.

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