חשיפה: הגוף הביטחוני שכמה מבכיריו נאשמים בשערוריית השוחד בהיקף עשרות מיליוני שקלים הוא המוסד
חשיפה: החקירה הפלילית נגד האסיר נוחי דנקנר נפתחה לאחר שאסיר אחר התלונן כי דנקנר תקף אותו מינית בכלא
One of Israel’s most flamboyant business figures, Nochi Dankner, who is serving a three-year sentence for stock fraud, was accused of sexual assault by his cellmate. Dankner was at one time ranked by Forbes as the 11th wealthiest Israeli. He owned the IDB Group, which had interests in petrochemicals, telecom, insurance, banking, airlines and media. When he was flying high, their net worth was $100-billion. After failed investments led to an attempt to raise capital, Dankner was accused of fraud by artificially inflating the price of his stock. In addition to his jail sentence, he was fined $200-million. The financier appealed his conviction to the Israeli Supreme Court, which rejected it, adding an additional year to the two years the lower court judge had given him.
Dankner had been housed in a “luxury” wing of the prison built originally to house former PM Olmert during his prison stay. It had also held former Pres. Moshe Katsav. The police are investigating the incident and have moved Dankner to another prison, where he is in solitary confinement. Under Israel’s outdated media laws, Israeli journalists may only report Dankner was accused of a “severe crime.” They cannot report he was accused of sexual assault. But I can.
Dankner was not publicly “out” as gay. Though in this radio interview, which was removed from the web by police order, a reporter does allude at about the 4:30-minute mark that the reason the charge against him cannot be reported is related to a law protecting individual privacy. He uses a specific example of someone who is “in the closet” and doesn’t want to be outed as gay. Given the additional reported information that the jail sentence for the offense is ten years, it’s clear that the charge being investigated is either rape or sexual assault.
Yediot 2017 article about Mossad corruption scandal
This is once again an example of Israel’s totally outdated legal system and the enslavement of the media to it. Who cares whether Nochi Dankner is gay? And further, if he has been accused of sexual assault, the public has the right to know. He is one of the most notorious prisoners in the Israeli penal system, who once was a celebrity businessman. People deserve the right to know these things. His right to privacy should not trump the public’s right to know what he may have done in prison.
There is yet another scandal brewing which Israeli media may not report. An Israeli source tells me that the Mossad has unearthed a massive financial scandal among its procurement unit involving theft of sophisticated equipment and bribes paid by contractors in return for payment of inflated invoices. The extent of the fraud is valued in the tens of millions. There is a police gag order in place which is one of the most restrictive ever seen in the history of these benighted instruments of media suppression.
The irony is that the case has already been partially reported in Israeli media back in 2017. In fact, I posted about it here. That reporting noted that a total of seven Mossad officials were arrested, three of were had a “senior” rank. Here is how I described the corrupt scheme:
The arrestees conspired to create a fraudulent tender system under which the Mossad would release an RFP to various companies. The bidding process was rigged to favor specific companies which were part of the conspiracy. The winning bid was inflated in order to accommodate a kickback that was returned to the Mossad employees. Israel media says the stolen funds amounted to a “vast sum.”
It appears that the Mossad employees arrested were not part of the agency’s operational personnel, but the financial staff. This doesn’t minimize the damage since the news reports called these officials “senior” staff. My guess is that it would involve the equivalent of the chief financial officer or the director of purchasing.
It has taken two years, but the investigation has led to indictments of the suspects. That’s what’s new in the case.
It’s worth considering this protest I added in that earlier post about this case:
In this case, Israeli police arrested these men secretly, held them secretly for weeks, and placed a ten-month gag order on the entire case; all in order to prevent the Israeli public from knowing that the Mossad can’t keep track of the vast sums of money the Israeli taxpayer gives it.
Though it’s true that such corruption may beset intelligence agencies in other countries as well, Israel as a whole is one of the more corrupt societies among the 35 OECD countries (23rd of 35). There are regular such scandals involving the Shabak and IDF as well. Rooting out such corruption is hindered by the levels of secrecy and opacity imposed on their reporting by the media.
His name is Dankner, Nochi Dankner.
@Eli: Thanks for the correction!
👍
It is just as conceivable that billionaire Dankner is being ‘shaken down’ by his ‘cellie’ for money.
Jails tend to attract dishonest people.
@ Jack: Nope, wrong again, Einstein. How does accusing him of rape and having him moved to another prison where he’s in solitary confinement get the victim the shakedown money he covets? Ever consider that, wiseguy? Of course you didn’t.
So do my comment threads!
@Richard
I don’t know what happened, but I imagine that male on male rape, without weapons or intoxicants, is more difficult to execute than male on female rape. I would imagine that there would be clear signs of a struggle in this case; scratch marks, abrasions or choke marks. Did that occur?
I also imagine that it is standard practice to remove an accused rapist to a solitary cell.
The shakedown begins by filing a civil lawsuit against the billionaire, and ends with a settlement.
Maybe I’m cynical, but I don’t hold convicted criminals to be too credible.
Richard.
Remember what happened to those accused Israeli tourists this summer on Cyprus? Let’s not rush to judgment.
Buki Naeh, in the interview you link to, seems to suggest the complaint against Dankner is completely made up. Of course, he doesn’t necessarily know, but that’s what he seems to suggest.
“When you live in a room with someone else, there are always frictions, especially when you’re closed down there and not just going back there to sleep – so people live in one room and there are all kinds of different kinds of issues between them. Now if one is complaining against the other, you have to first get the one complained of out of there so that there will be no disruption attempts or other things because there has to be a police investigation.
…
Of course Nochi Dankner denies it and claims that this is a plot an opponent made up, and sent this guy to file the complaint. What, for example, can a person do to another in a detention cell? For example, someone can file a complaint that I come in the middle of the night with toothpaste and put it on all my cellmates.
Once when I wanted to tell a fanciful story, I said that Brigitte Bardot couldn’t come to Israel anymore, you know why? Because I filed a complaint with the police that she landed here one night with a secret helicopter, came home to me, raped me and fled – and if she arrives in the country, the police are legally obliged to investigate her.”
@ Eli:
Nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact, in the segment you conveniently omit, Naeh explains the reason why the charge against Dankner is not reported is that there is a legal prohibition against violating privacy over matters that could be embarrassing to him. He specifically mentions an accusation that someone is gay as being a reason such information could not be published. That is a far more persuasive reading on Naeh’s intent than yours.
As for the rest of your comment, it was garbage. Pure figment of your unimaginative imagination. Do NOT comment in this thread again.
I doubt he never went above 10 billion. Defiantly not anywhere even close to 100B.
Also, I’m confused, so is it my right to know he is gay or isn’t? (“Who cares whether Nochi Dankner is gay?”)
You get very confusing when you try to justify not leaving people any privacy.
Here’s my problem with idiots like you: when I write a post I do research (so I don’t make an idiot out of myself like you). I obtain credible sources for statements I make like, for example, the worth of his companies at their height. Unlike you, I have a credible source for the valuation of $100-billion. You don’t. That makes you an ass .
Rape victims deserve privacy. Abused children deserve privacy. Billionaires, Shabak interrogators, PMs engaged in war crimes, generals ditto: no, no privacy for them. That’s pretty clear. Any confusion on your part is solely due to your own limitations.
You have a credible source for what? Much of this is public knowledge!
There are lists of richest people and their valuations. And Dankner or IDB never got close to 100B. Even more so, if he bought some shares of Apple or Amazon, would you say ‘his companies’ worth over a trillion.
Why do you feel like you need to make this sort of statement? It does not improve the post in any way and it is, at most, inaccurate, and more likely, untrue and misleading.
@Reut: Read my lips carefully. I never said that HE was worth $100-billion. I said that his companies were worth that. And yes, I have a credible source, the same one you could’ve looked up before putting your foot in it. Further, Forbes ranked Dankner 11th richest Israel at the height of his wealth.
You are done in this thread. Comment further here and you will be moderated.
I know this is unrelated to the article above, but I was wondering what your thoughts were on the UK election. Israel absolutely interfered in it. Yair Lapid, the #2 in the Blue and White party, literally came out and said he was going to intervene to stop Corbyn from become prime minister. If this had been any other country, the political establishment would flipping it, but because it’s Israel and because it’s Corbyn who they unanimously reject for his socialist and anti imperialist policies, there’s been a literal silence on this. An article on this would be appreciated, especially as it relates to leftist causes and the Palestinian rights movement overall.
[comment deleted: banned your ass!]