WORLD BRIEFING / ISRAEL
Israeli authorities filed fraud and money-laundering charges against an enigmatic Russian-born tycoon who has fled the country, according to court documents.
Prosecutors say Arkady Gaydamak conspired with senior Israeli banking executives to conceal financial activities worth around $175 million. Officers of one of Israel’s leading banks were also indicted.
Gaydamak became a celebrity in Israel even though he did not speak Hebrew and had a checkered past. He faces an international arrest warrant in a French investigation of alleged arms trafficking to Angola in the early 1990s.
He bought a soccer club in Jerusalem and underwrote philanthropic projects such as a beach vacation village for Israelis fleeing Hezbollah rocket fire in 2006. He left Israel for Russia last year under a cloud of suspicion and after defeat in his bid to become mayor of Jerusalem.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
