In a response filed to the court today, the Tax Authority claimed that the request of Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI) to join its bankruptcy demand against Eliezer Fishman, due to an alleged debt of NIS 1.8 billion to the bank, "conceals more than it reveals", and does not enable any response to the bank's claims concerning either the validity or volume of Fishman's debt and the securities the bank possesses.
The Tax Authority claims that the fact the bank filed some of the documents proving Fishman's debts in a closed envelope only for the eyes of the court and avoided providing details regarding some of the relevant facts, prevents determining the real extent of Fishman's debt to the bank.
The Tax Authority claims, "In a puzzling manner, which raises questions, the bank has chosen to avoid stating when debts to the bank had been acquired, what is the volume of the debt, when did the debtor sign the personal guarantees, what measures did the bank employ to collect the debt prior to the Tax Authority's request to issue a receivership order and why did the bank file the request to order the debtor to pay his personal guarantee to the bank only now, merely a few days after the Tax Authority filed a receivership request."
The Tax Authority claims, "These questions, as well as many other, have remained unanswered and all of it, according to the bank's claim, under the pretext of 'banking confidentiality'.
Two weeks ago, on August 2, the Tax Authority filed a request to the Tel Aviv District Court, to issue a receivership order against Fishman and declare him bankrupt due to a NIS 196 million debt. In response, Hapoalim filed a request to join the procedure.
Bank Hapoalim's request is not directed at Fishman Group companies, or any person in these companies, but at Fishman himself. The bank claims that Fishman's debt totals over NIS 1.8 billion, turning Hapoalim into Fishman's largest creditor.
In response to Bank Hapoalim's request, the Tax Authority today opposed the appointment of advocates Pinhas Rubin and Yaron Elhawi from the Gornitzky & Co. law firm as special managers for Fishman's assets. The Tax Authority further claims, "It is vital that the person appointed as functionary will not appear to have any conflict of interests."
The Tax Authority claimed that court should appoint its candidate, Adv. Itzhak Yunger, as receiver because, unlike the advocates proposed by Hapoalim, he is not affiliated with either of the parties, and is therefore more suitable for this function.
The response of the Tax Authority also stated that under the circumstances in which various creditors, mainly banks, hold lien on many of Fishman's assets, "Non-secured creditors, mainly the Tax Authority, have a real interest to ensure the functionary will be able to operate impartially, in order to fully examine and investigate the debtor's various liens and carry an exhaustive investigation of his financial complications."
Eliezer Fishman is the controlling shareholder in "Globes."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 31, 2016
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