Supreme Court Judge Hanan Meltzer today sentenced Emblaze Ltd. (LSE: BLZ) chairman Eli Reifman to 45 days in jail for contempt of court. The judge dismissed a delay in execution of the sentence issued a week ago on the decision by Tel Aviv District Court Judge Varda Alshech.
Judge Alshech sentenced Reifman to 45 days in jail for contempt of court after he failed to comply with a court order to hand over his 39 million Emblaze shares, worth NIS 94 million.
Judge Meltzer sharply criticized Reifman's behavior, noting that his attempts to attack the court order had failed. Meltzer said that Reifman had done nothing to fulfill the court order before Judge Alshech sentenced him to jail. Meltzer added that, after the sentence, Reifman sent worthless instructions to his trustees to notify him about his holdings in the company, and after he obtained an opportunity from the Supreme Court to prove the seriousness of his intentions, Reifman proceed with sending supplementary letters even though he knew in advance that they were worthless.
Judge Meltzer said, "There can be no agreement with Reifman's course of action, whose sole purpose is delay the inevitable. Reifman continues todeby the court orders and to miss opportunities given to him to fulfill them."
After the verdict, Reifman said that he would transfer the shares, but that time was needed. "I respect the decision, even if I don’t agree with it. The first time that the justice system heard what I had to say," he said.
Reifman was arrested immediately after Judge Meltzer handed down his sentence.
Before the court hearing, Reifman's mother said that he would sell everything, but that the authorities would not let him, because they would not let him travel abroad.
Commenting on last night's shooting incident, Reifman's mother said that her son had nothing to fear because there was no sense in harming him because no one would then get anything, not even one share. She also saw no point in sending him to jail.
Emblaze's share fell 4.7% in morning trading in London today to ₤0.386.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 21, 2009
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