Permitted for Publication: Dudi Appel Named Prime Suspect in Asset Concealment Case
Businessman Dudi Appel is the primary suspect in a case involving the concealment of assets worth tens of millions of shekels. The case also involves Likud tribunal president Michael Kleiner and businesspeople Yaffa and Yitzhak Dayan.
Permitted for publication: Businessman Dudi Appel is the main suspect in the case of concealing assets worth tens of millions of shekels. Along with Appel, the suspects in the case include the president of the Likud tribunal, attorney Michael Kleiner, and two businesspeople, Yaffa and Yitzhak Dayan. The four were questioned the day before yesterday and released.
The National Unit for Economic Crimes (YALEK) of Lahav 433, together with the National Unit for Investigations at the Commissioner for Insolvency and Economic Rehabilitation at the Ministry of Justice, is investigating a suspicion that Appel, who has been in bankruptcy proceedings since 2012, acted to conceal his rights to various real estate assets worth tens of millions of shekels and siphoned off assets that were under his control.
Thus, according to the suspicion, Appel violated his duty to disclose and report his assets in the proceedings. In addition, the involved parties allegedly concealed rights to real estate assets, violating reporting duties within the framework of Appel's bankruptcy proceedings.
Brothers Yaffa and Yitzhak Dayan are owners of companies in Israel and abroad, including in the real estate sector. The Dayan family controls an international empire in the fields of real estate, hotels, automotive, and more.
Debt claims against Appel in the bankruptcy proceedings totaled 87 million shekels. Of this amount, he owes 64 million shekels to the Ministry of Construction and Housing. Major creditors of Appel also include Discount Bank (7.7 million shekels), the Tax Authority (about 5 million shekels), and Bank Hapoalim (1.6 million shekels).
Appel was one of the most prominent businesspeople in the economy in the early 2000s. In the years that followed, he lost his assets and has been in bankruptcy proceedings since 2012. At the same time, Appel was convicted in three bribery cases involving mayors and was sentenced to actual prison time. Appel was also arrested in 2021 on suspicion of concealing income in the amount of tens of millions of shekels and other offenses. The investigation has concluded, and the file has been transferred to the State Attorney's Office.
Last October, the court rejected Appel's proposal for a debt settlement with his creditors. The judge determined that "there is more hidden than revealed regarding the debtor's financial sources for implementing the settlement."
Response from attorney Efraim Damri, Appel's representative: "This is an old case that was already investigated about 14 years ago. It is difficult for my client to understand why the enforcement authorities choose to return to these same events and pursue him after the proceedings in his case have been exhausted."
Response from attorneys Uri Korb and Sivan Russo, representatives of Yaffa and Yitzhak Dayan: "Yaffa and Yitzhak are law-abiding citizens and respected businesspeople whose actions are beyond reproach. This is an investigation concerning events that occurred over a decade ago and which has been investigated for several years without findings and without even a shred of evidence pointing to a suspicion of committing any wrongful act."
***Presumption of innocence: Dudi Appel, attorney Michael Kleiner, Yaffa and Yitzhak Dayan, and other suspects in the case have not been convicted, and they are entitled to the presumption of innocence.
