Israelis in the world of sport were among the victims of bankrupt UK stockbroker Nicholas Levine, including the owner of Hapoel Holon basketball team Micky Dorsman, Maccabi Netanya soccer team owner Daniel Jammer and possibly Moni Fanan, the former vice chairman of Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team who committed suicide yesterday.
Nicholas Levene has gone missing and reportedly owes investors some ₤20 million. In contrast to reports in the British press, he never worked for MG Equity Partners, but was only on their non-executive advisory board. His role was non-paying, and the firm has had no contact with Levene for over two years.
The 45 year-old Levene owns a $5 million villa in Herzliya and has close contacts with many in Israel's sporting world including Jammer, who has invested $10 million with Levine. Several years ago Levene expressed interest in buying Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer club.
Dorsman told "Globes, that he too is a victim of Levene. "I met him once two and a half years ago when he was on a visit to Israel. I invested my money through a European investment bank that I have worked with for many years. The bank works with many investment managers and Nick Levene was one of them. Two months after the investment I began to suspect that something was wrong with the man."
He added, "He didn't provide orderly documentation on transactions and it took a long time until I saw official papers."
Dorsman said that his investment with Levene was not especially large.
London's Metropolitan Police are investigating Levene, known to friends as Beano, after he failed to comply with an English High Court order to repay an ₤18 million debit earlier this month. He has been missing for over a month.
There is no evidence to link Levene to yesterday's suicide of Fanan. But Levene, who serves as vice-chairman of English soccer team Leyton Orient was well known in Israel's sports world and most of his victims were connected to the world of sport. It is also known that Fanan likely killed himself due to investments he had made on behalf of Maccabi Tel Aviv players, which he was unable to repay. Levene's disappearance may well explain Fanan's desperate plight.
Another Israeli who Levene unsuccessfully tried to con was businessman Igal Ahouvi. In 2007 Ahouvi sued Levene after he asked him to buy £15 million of shares in Delek Global Real Estate (DGRE), which was being launched on London's Alternative Investment Market. According to the suit, Levene was asked several times during the fall of 2007 to transfer the shares plus dividends to a Gibraltar-based subsidiary of Ahouvi's company, Blenheim Properties. In May 2008, DGRE paid out a second dividend of £500,000, which Ahouvi's lawyer asked Levine to transfer to Ahouvi. Levene was unwilling or unable to make the transfer. Ahouvi successfully sued Levene and his Panama-registered company, Niblick Investments, for the DGRE shares and £1.08 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 20, 2009
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2009