Nochi Dankner enters prison to serve three-year jail term
Former IDB Holding Corp. chairman Nochi Dankner, once considered possibly the most powerful businessman in the country, started a threeyear jail sentence for stock fraud on Tuesday by entering Ma’asiyahu Prison in Ramle.
Just before entering prison, Dankner told the gathered media that, he had “fought to prove his innocence” and that it was “a hard day for me and my family... I have faith in the justice system.”
Dankner will enter a special wing where former prime minister Ehud Olmert served his prison term.
On August 29, the Supreme Court stiffened his jail sentence from two to three years. Dankner was originally sentenced in December 2016 to two years in jail by the Tel Aviv District Court.
Before being convicted of illegally manipulating the value of his company’s stock in February 2012, Dankner controlled an estimated NIS 400 billion of the public’s wealth through his Israel Discount Bank pyramid, which included controlling substantial shares in the country’s biggest supermarket chain, Shufersal, and mobile operator Cellcom, as well as financial giants Clal Insurance, Bank Hapoalim and others.
Dankner claimed in his appeal to the Supreme Court that the district court rejected most of the claims directed against him in the indictment, and that even on those where it convicted him, the conviction was based on factual presumptions that the court itself had rejected. Dankner’s main argument was that the court’s post-factum interpretation of his actions was improper.
The Supreme Court ultimately rejected his arguments and accepted the state’s claim that the sentence had been too lenient in light of the relevant guidelines. The justices pointed out that the scheme had been carefully planned and was not spontaneous – a strong aggravating factor.