Boaz Yona, the former CEO of construction company Heftsiba, was arrested on charges of creditors defrauding, money laundering and other offenses, after accumulating a debt of NIS 1.8 billion ($ 583 million) , police said on Wednesday morning.
Police suspect Yona of hiding income and assets from creditors by transferring accounts and assets to other people. He was targeted during an undercover operation, during which investigators searched his homes and offices.
Yona was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2008 for his role in the collapse of the Heftsiba real estate empire, in which executives embezzled NIS 118 million ($ 38 million) from the company when the company shut down. finally filed for bankruptcy in 2007.
The Heftsiba scandal left thousands of families homeless and sent shock waves through the real estate world. Yona went on the run, but was arrested in Italy after a massive international effort and brought back to Israel to face charges.
He was released in early 2012 as part of an effort to prevent prison overcrowding, and the multi-million shekel fine he was originally ordered to pay has been halved.
The company, later known as Heftsiba Construction, Development and Investments Ltd., was established in 1968 by Yona’s father, Mordechai.