Haifa District Court Judge Moshe Gilad will resign his position following suspicions of tax violations related to the discovering of a secret bank account held by the judge and his wife in UBS Switzerland, the courts announced today. The judge's wife is set to be tried, while the case against the judge himself was closed.
Gilad and his wife, Acre city councilwoman Aviva Gilad, own accounts that were investigated in the UBS Switzerland affair. Their names were found on a list of clients of UBS investment advisor Roni Elias. Dozens of suspects were investigated in the affair, and four indictments have been filed to date concerning unreported bank accounts in Switzerland.
The fact that Gilad's name was included on a list of suspects was reported last December in "Globes," following a request filed by the newspaper through Advocates Yoram Muszkat and Orian Eshkoli Yahalom for removal of the gag order on the judge's name issued at the state's request, due to the "sensitivity of the matter." Immediately following the report in "Globes," the judge announced that he was going on vacation.
Judge Gilad is represented by Advocates Dr. Jacob Weinroth and Amit Hadad from the Dr. J. Weinroth & Co. law firm.
Yitzhak Rabin precedent
According to Judge Gilad, as quoted in the announcement by the court system, the question arises of whether a degree of agreement was achieved between the judge and Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to the effect that the judge's wife would be tried, while the judge would announce his resignation.
"I welcome the Attorney General's decision to close the case opened against me by the Israel Tax Authority. Nevertheless, I decided to resign my position as a Haifa District Court judge in order to stand at my wife's side," the announcement quoted Gilad as saying.
If such an agreement was reached, it could be based on the precedent of the illegal dollar accounts affair of late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. In this affair, Rabin, together with his late wife, Leah Rabin, were suspected of holding then illegal overseas foreign currency accounts.
In that affair, it was agreed by then Attorney General Aharon Barak and Rabin that Rabin would resign his position as prime minister, while Barak would refrain from putting Rabin himself on trial and would put only Leah on trial.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 11, 2015
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