Court Dismisses $500 Million Lawsuit Against Leviev

The Tel Aviv District Court today dismissed a NIS 2.5 billion lawsuit filed by Bertie Sinbeti against Lev Leviev, Leviev Group Project Management, and senior company officers for allegedly stealing a gold mine in Kyrgyzstan from Sinbeti.

Tel Aviv District Court Judge Ruth Ronnen accepted the position of Leviev and the other respondents, whom she said proved that the former Kyrgyzstan government was a partner in the proceedings that led to the theft of the company’s assets, and that this theft was not due to breach of the company’s various franchise terms in Kyrgyzstan, as Sinbeti alleged.

Judge Ronnen also ruled that there was no fault in the respondents’ conduct, and that their conduct did not deviate from the business discretion given the company’s officers.

In his statement of claim, filed in November 2009, Sinbeti contended that he had received a gold mining franchise in Kyrgyzstan, and that he brought Leviev into the operation to raise capital for the project. Sinbeti contended that Leviev took over his company, ousted him, and that the takeover resulted in the company’s bankruptcy. Sinbeti claimed that the Kyrgyzstan government subsequently nationalized the mines.

The court ruled that Sinbeti must pay the respondents NIS 145,000 in court costs.