Owner of Israeli soccer club arrested for tax scam in stadiums

Barak Abramov, owner of an Israeli Premier League football club and a local restaurant chain, has recently been arrested on suspicion of a huge tax fraud at sports stadiums.

An investigation conducted by a special unit of the Israel Police revealed that Abramov won tenders for managing buffets in stadiums, but transferred them to major criminals, reports Xinhua news agency reported today.

According to the police and Israeli Tax Authority, these criminals earned millions of new shekels in the buffets but did not report them (1 new shekel is about 0.27 U.S. dollars).

These buffets are in Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem and in a basketball arena located next to it. A third buffet involved is in the Safari Zoological Center in the city of Ramat Gan in central Israel.

Similar suspicions were also raised regarding the buffets at Sammy Ofer Stadium in the northern city of Haifa, but this tender had been won by another person.

Abramov, who is currently in house arrest, is suspected of conspiring to commit a crime, tax offenses and money laundering.

Abramov, aged 39, owns "Japanika" Asian food chain, with 33 restaurants throughout Israel.

Two years ago, he bought "Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv" football team, which finished last season in sixth place in the Israeli Premier League.

--IANS

gau/sed