Yoav Yitzhak of "News 1" reports that a criminal investigation has been opened in the Ofergate affair by the defense establishment and the police at the order of Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein.
"News 1" adds that Knesset Economics Committee chairman MK Carmel Shama (Likud) was notified by a note passed to him at the start of yesterday's committee meeting convened to discuss the affair. On the basis of information in that note, Shama was forced to end the meeting immediately to prevent possible obstruction of the investigation and legal proceedings at this time and at the start of the investigation.
Sources informed "News 1" that the investigation is focusing on the shipping business of Sammy Ofer and the sale of a ship to an Iranian company, in violation of sanctions and bans on trade with Iran. So far as is known, the dockings that occurred at Iranian ports by Tanker Pacific Ltd. and the special circumstances 'created' for these dockings were known to the defense establishment and are not part of the investigation.
The Ofer family has kept quiet in the past few days, and declined to disclose any information to the media on these matters. However, family representatives have repeatedly said that no crime was committed, and if there was any irregularity, it was done innocently.
The Ofer family said in response, "We don’t know anything about this."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 1, 2011
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