Danny Dankner indicted on charges of fraud, breach of trust

The most powerful person at Bank Hapoalim until four years ago, former bank chairman Danny Dankner, was indicted Sunday on a series of charges, including making false reports and declarations, money laundering, fraud and breach of trust. Dankner is charged with wrongdoing in four different cases.

The first indictment deals with the acquisition of the Turkish Pozitif Bank in 2005. Dankner is charged with breach of trust concerning Bank Hapoalim and conflict of interests concerning the RP Group. Dankner is also charged with fraud and harming the proper management of the bank’s business. The second indictment includes charges of fraud concerning the Dutch DHB bank, breach of trust toward Bank Hapoalim, and receiving goods by means of fraud, taking action with forbidden property, fraud, corporate breach of trust and misconduct.

The third charge includes receiving credit by means of fraud from Bank Hapoalim, as well as receiving goods by means of fraud and taking action with forbidden property.

The fourth charge concerns using his personal secretary’s bank account for his own needs. Transactions in his secretary Hagit Malka’s account reached some NIS 13.8 million. Dankner is charged with money laundering in this case. The State Attorney requested the confiscation of some NIS 700,000 found in Malka’s account at Bank Hapoalim.

Dankner served on Bank Hapoalim’s board of directors from November 1997 until January 2004, when he was appointed deputy chairman of the board. In May 2004, after a demand by the Bank of Israel’s Supervisor of Banks, Dankner relinquished this post and returned to the board of directors. Meanwhile, he was appointed chairman of Poalim Capital Markets, Bank Hapoalim’s investment banking arm. In June 2007 he was appointed chairman of Bank Hapoalim’s board of directors, a post he held until July 2009, when he was forced to resign following a demand by the Bank of Israel.

During the period he served on the bank’s board of directors, Dankner continued his wide-ranging personal business activities, including holdings in Elran (D.D.) Investments Ltd., a public company with real estate holdings and also a company registered in Romania that dealt with television broadcasts.