Russian billionaires in High Court showdown
A BATTLE between two Israeli-Russian billionaires over profits from the Angolan diamond industry kicked off yesterday in the High Court, with witnesses including a chief Rabbi and the former head of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.
Arkady Gaydamak is suing his ex-business partner Lev Leviev in an attempt to enforce an agreement that he claims was signed in 2001, detailing how profits from the pair’s mutual interests in Angola should be split.
Cross examination of Gaydamak began yesterday, with the Russian businessman claiming in a written statement that he was “the victim of a conspiracy between Mr Leviev, [and his associates] General Kopelipa and Mr Sumbala seeking to deceive me into agreeing to settle my well-founded claims against Mr Leviev for nothing”.
Gaydamak spoke to the court via a video link from Israel.
He claims he is entitled to roughly half Leviev’s diamond assets in Angola as a result of an agreement signed in December 2001, defining the pair’s business relationship and distributing assets from their businesses.
But the only signed copy was placed with the chief Rabbi of Russia – Rabbi Berel Lazar – who says he has since lost or destroyed the document.
Gaydamak says Leviev made partial payments under the agreement until 2005, but that since then he has been denied commission and dividends worth as much as £3m per month.
Leviev, however, denies that the agreement was ever signed, and is also disputing its contents.
The so-called “King of Diamonds”, who made his fortune battling De Beers’ monopoly over the sale of rough diamonds, also claims Gaydamak signed away his rights to the assets in 2011, in a disputed settlement agreement, without payment.
Gaydamak says he was “induced” to sign the settlement by General Manuel Helder Viera Dias – an Angolan state minister known as Kopelipa who is also head of the country’s security service. Leviev denies Kopelipa was acting as his agent. The case continues.