A concession for the construction of two gas stations along Road No. 1, valued at more than NIS 100 million and awarded to the Kfar Chabad Cooperative Association, was sold in a revolving transaction for only NIS 8 million, according to an investigation report by an external accountant The economy.
The findings of the report, which reached Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth, indicate serious government corruption by senior officials in Kfar Chabad who allegedly exploit their power in the Cooperative Association and the Sdot Dan Regional Council’s planning and construction committee, to appropriate land and public buildings and rake in profits by confiscating profits. , Sale of land and rental of public buildings to relatives.
Kfar Chabad. The members of the cooperative association did not see a shekel
The Kfar Chabad Cooperative Association was established in 1949 as an agricultural settlement in the center of the country. Its location, between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and near Ben Gurion Airport, turned its lands into valuable assets.
Following complaints accumulated by members of the association, the Registrar of Cooperative Associations in the Ministry of Economy appointed an external accountant to investigate and present a report on what was happening in the association.
According to the report, in 2003 the state expropriated land from a Chabad village in the Ben Gurion Airport area, with the aim of building an interchange that connects Highway 1 to the airport. Through the council’s legal counsel, Adv. Ben-Zion Sheffer, the village committee and the regional council appealed to the High Court against the decision.
In a compromise agreement reached between the parties, it was agreed that in exchange for the expropriated land, Kfar Chabad will have the option of building two gas station complexes – in an area of 10 dunams each – on both sides of Road 1, including commercial centers.
The person who worked to promote the gas station project was the deputy head of the council, Benjamin Lifshitz, who in December 2010 signed a contract on behalf of the association, which raises quite a few questions, with the LDS company owned by businessman Oded Laufer. The contract was signed as a lease for 98 years, which in effect makes the contract the value of a property sale contract and not a lease. “The transaction was signed illegally and in a clear conflict of interest,” the external accountant’s report said. “It is recommended to cancel the agreement with LDS immediately on all its appendices.”
According to the report, the sale agreement was signed with a seemingly sharp conflict of interest, with none other than the spokesman of the council and the association, Adv. Ben-Zion Sheffer, serving as a director of the company that acquired the rights.
But just a week after the report was published, Oren Investments reported to the stock exchange that it bought, together with a third party, for only NIS 8 million, 85% of LDS and with them the right to build the gas stations. Members of the Kfar Chabad Cooperative Association did not receive a penny from the deal.
Under the agreement, the acquiring company was given the right to pledge to the bank the future property (two gas station complexes), worth more than NIS 100 million, in order to finance the planning, development and construction costs and pay the association $ 7,000 per month for each complex, excluding CPI linkage.
“We tore hair from our heads when we were exposed to this contract,” said residents of the Chabad village. “It is clearly inconceivable. Tens of millions are distributed here to all sorts of unknown people, while the village has nothing to do with it. It is clear that there is something to be investigated here. ”
Benjamin Lifshitz, through Advocate Yosef Lebenhertz, stated: “Mr. Lifshitz denies all the allegations attributing to him any illegal act. All his actions were done for the benefit of the Kfar Chabad Association and for the benefit of the public, but not everyone can be pleased. , And the claims regarding losses caused to the members of the association due to this or that contract are without any basis. All permits to enter into agreements for the construction of gas stations in the land in the settlement of Kfar Chabad, and any decision regarding land in Kfar Chabad “The committee of the association, all were done in accordance with the association’s bylaws, according to the law, and no losses were caused to the association.”
The Registry of Cooperative Societies in the Ministry of Economy and Industry stated: “On December 26, 2018, a committee was appointed to appoint a liaison by way of attaching an accompanying accountant, whose goals are to regulate the uses of the association’s assets. This is a report on a private corporation made at our request.” Others who came to him regarding the association’s conduct. “
The Israel Police stated: “We do not provide details regarding the existence or non-existence of investigations, and this does not confirm or refute their very existence.”
Oded Laufer’s response, through Adv. Lior Lahav: “There are no real allegations that you raised them. The accountant appointed by the Registrar of Associations to examine the Kfar Chabad Association never contacted my client, and on the contrary, refused to meet with him. LDS made its engagement with the Kfar Chabad Association many years ago, in good faith and with full legal advice. In the opinion of her legal advisers, there was no flaw in this engagement. “
No response was received on behalf of Adv. Ben-Zion Sheffer.