The State Attorney's Office has summoned former Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, along with four other suspects, for a pre-indictment hearing, according to a statement from the Ministry of Justice on Tuesday.
Kahlon, who served as chairman of Unet Credit, a public company providing non-bank credit, and as chairman of the board of directors from 2021 to 2022, faces potential charges of breach of trust and fraud.
He is also suspected of concealing financial information that could have negatively impacted the company’s standing and Israel's broader economy.
The Israeli State Prosecutor's Office also intends to indict Tzachi Ezer, Shai Penso, and Shlomo Isaac, the controlling shareholders and executives of Unet Credit, along with five other suspects, including the company's compliance officer, an advisor, and the companies themselves.
They are being investigated for fraud and reporting violations. The Securities Department is managing the case within the Tax and Economic Prosecutor's Office.
One major allegation revolves around a 2020 share allocation deal in which 2 million shares, valued at 50 million shekels, were allegedly allocated to a private company controlled by the shareholders.
The deal is suspected to have been manipulated to repay the private company’s bond debts, with significant misrepresentation to the public company.
Additional cases
Another case involves the alleged embezzlement of 5 million shekels and other financial irregularities at the company's Nazareth branch. These irregularities were reportedly discovered in late 2020 but concealed by the controlling shareholders until mid-2022.
The delay in reporting these findings led to the suspension of Unet Credit’s stock trading, a downgrade in its credit rating, and the withdrawal of auditor approval for the company’s financial reports.
Additionally, Tzachi Ezer is accused of personally withdrawing 400,000 shekels from the public company.