Bobroffs dodge prosecution
SECRET SETTLEMENT: ISRAELI GOVT SEIZES R70M FROM DUO, DROPS CRIMINAL CHARGES
Deal does not affect possible decision to prosecute lawyers, says NPA.
The R95 million fugitive personal injury lawyers Ronald and Darren Bobroff stole from road accident victims may never be returned to South Africa. The father and son duo reached a secret settlement with Israel early last year to dodge criminal prosecution, which saw the Israeli government seize around R70 million of the money and drop criminal charges related to money laundering against them in return.
The Bobroffs retained the balance of R25 million.
But it seems the Bobroffs are taking the R70 million forfeiture on review, with Darren saying in court papers he was “intimidated” and “coerced” into signing it.
This means no money has been returned to SA despite the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA)
ruling in May last year the money was the proceeds of crime and must be forfeited to the state.
Israeli authorities never notified or consulted the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) or the SA Reserve Bank. The Bobroffs also did not disclose it to SA courts, where they were engaged in litigation against the NPA.
The department of international relations and cooperation has not yet responded to Moneyweb’s questions about whether it was informed before the settlement was reached.
Richard Spoor, the Bobroffs’ SA attorney, did not want to comment but said: “The agreement to forfeit moneys to the Israeli authorities is the subject of review proceedings in Israel, client will not comment on those.”
Moneyweb sent questions to Israel’s state attorney’s office and the SA embassy but received no response. The settlement followed the Israeli authorities instituting criminal proceedings against Darren Bobroff related to suspected money laundering.
(The Bobroffs fled SA for Australia in 2016 after the Hawks issued warrants for their arrest.)
It is clear the Bobroffs tried to keep the settlement – which an Israeli court sanctioned on 28 February 2021 – a secret. They did not raise it during arguments in the SCA application heard on 23 February, 2021, less than a week before the settlement was approved, when negotiations with the Israelis would presumably have been at an advanced stage.
Nor did Ronald disclose it in his failed application to the Constitutional Court for leave to appeal the SCA judgment on 28 June, 2021.
It was only disclosed by the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) in court papers filed in response the Bobroffs’ Constitutional Court application.
The NPA said the Israeli justice ministry informed it of the settlement more than a month later, on 6 April, 2021.
The NDPP affidavit quotes a paragraph from the letter it received from the Israelis: “A civil forfeiture proceeding was also initiated by the Israeli prosecution based on the same aforementioned Israeli domestic offences.
In the context of the aforementioned civil forfeiture proceedings, the Israeli authorities recently entered into a settlement with Bobroff. Taking into account a wide array of factors, the settlement included the closing of the criminal file against Bobroff and the forfeiture of funds that were seized in Israel in the civil forfeiture and criminal proceedings.”
NPA spokesperson advocate Mthunzi Mhaga confirmed there was no consultation before the settlement was reached.
He said the settlement does not affect a possible decision to prosecute the Bobroffs. “There is currently an issue with the completion of a forensic report that is crucial to finalising the prosecution decision as well as preparing an extradition request.”
Spoor said the settlement was not put before the court as it “was not relevant to the appeal proceedings where the issue, left undetermined by the Constitutional Court, was if our client had committed any crime and if the moneys, invested in an Israeli bank, were the proceeds of crime. For the avoidance of doubt, he did not, and they were not (sic)”.
There’s an issue with preparing extradition request