Question marks are once again being raised about the financial strength of Betar Jerusalem’s intended buyer, Sheikh Hemed Ben Khalifa. The Marker reports today (Sunday) that the business intelligence company hired by the Football Association has raised concerns that Ben Khalifa is a straw man. He owns dozens of inactive companies and claims that there is a significant gap between the capital statements he submitted and his actual assets.In addition, information was obtained about Ben Khalifa’s connections with people whose names were linked, among other things, to fraud and money laundering.
One finding reveals that according to people close to Betar and the association, the main asset in Ben-Khalifa’s capital statement is a bond from the Venezuelan government, which he valued at about $ 1.5 billion. But the bonds are not tradable, and as a result of the economic crisis in the country, the payments on them have been suspended by the government. They can not even be used by Ben Khalifa as collateral for obtaining credit from the banks.
In addition, according to The Marker, Ben Khalifa stated that he has a property in Lebanon worth several tens of millions of dollars – but the investigation revealed that similar properties in the area are worth a few million dollars. Ben Khalifa’s homes in Dubai and Abu Dhabi are valued in the real estate industry At $ 8-5 million, less than half the estimate he presented in the capital statement. In the bank account he has less than $ 4 million.
Starting in 2009, the discourse established dozens of companies, mainly in Dubai, in the fields of crypto, renewable energy, gas and oil. However, an investigation by the business intelligence company did not find information about actual projects carried out by the companies it owns, beyond the articles in the media that show the signing of agreements with companies around the world.
Another concern that has arisen is that the oil of some of the established companies is the same or similar to companies and funds with an international reputation. Thus, for example, the name of AIDA – a private company owned by the Sheikh that was incorporated in the UK two years ago – is similar to the name of ADIA, a wealth fund of Abu Dhabi, established in the mid-1970s.
Also, the discourse and the companies it owns own a double-digit number of websites, most of which have been set up in the last two years.
From the Football Association It was stated in response: “Materials presented to the committee cannot be referred to.”
On behalf of Moshe is celebrating It was reported: “The sale deal to Sheikh Ben Khalifa will help the Betar Jerusalem team to be at the top of Israeli football and integrate into the top of European football. We are puzzled by the behavior of elements in the Football Association, along with attempts by elements on its behalf to sabotage the deal and injure the team severely. “
“We hope that her blunt reception from Sheikh Ben Khalifa will not make him regret the deal and return him to the desire to invest in Betar. We call on the heads of the association to act as expected of them for the sake of Israeli football and to stop and try to sabotage this deal, attempts that include nothing less than recruiting an investigative company and leaking biased and misleading information on its behalf. We would like to take a moment to think about what would have happened if they had aggressively investigated Mitch Goldhaar (the owner of the Maccabi Tel Aviv football club; Ral and Shas) before his arrival in Israel. Also, contrary to the allegations, Suleiman al-Fahm has and had no connection to the deal. “