Aharoni fled to U.S. and made good
By Nathan Lipson
Before he left the country, Amos Aharoni led an ostentatious life: his
name appeared often in the papers, he married a beautiful woman and
he had a long list of girlfriends. He dealt in a wide variety of fields, but
mainly in the grey market. He was said to be extraordinarily charming
and "a bit of a show-off." After his escape, he told journalists, "I only
went to the United States for four days, to raise a bit of money and
return, but because my property was confiscated, I have decided to
stay here for a little longer to try and make money here, to pay back
my creditors later."
Just like Yuval Ran of the 1990s. Aharoni fled to the United States at
the end of 1985, leaving debts of millions of dollars to banks and to
private individuals, especially from Jerusalem. His escape was bad
news for his creditors, but what has happened to him since is excellent
news, because Aharoni can now pay back all of his debts and still be
rich: Amos Aharoni controls a financing and export company in New
York, which is worth $130 million in the market. His own shares,
which make up about 63 percent of the company, are today worth
about $85 million.
Aharoni grew from being the finance manager of the American tool
exporter Acquisition Capability (which changed its name to Actrade
International in October 1992) to being its director general, president,
and major share-holder. Until one year ago, the company's annual
profit was not worth mentioning. Now the company has reported a
net profit of about $2 million.
Aharoni was 39 when he fled Israel and settled in New York. His
story is so similar to this year's escape of promising 37-year-old
entrepreneur Yuval Ran, that their skyrocketing and plunging business
activities can be told as the same story with only a few adjustments.
Amos Aharoni made headlines 28 years ago, when in May, 1969, he
ran for chairman of the students' union at The Hebrew University of
Jerusalem. He headed a non-affiliated party called "The Bloc," and at
the end of coalition negotiations, he was appointed chairman. Though
he held the position for less than a year, he continued to be involved in
various activities. In the end of the 1970s he chaired the Betar
Jerusalem soccer team. There, too, he was not very successful and
soon had to quit.
His political career did not take off and he went into business.
Aharoni concentrated his businesses in a long list of companies
bearing the name "Mentor" - Mentor Credit Club, Mentor
Communications, Mentor Insurance, Mentor Tourism, Mentor
Diamonds, and other companies. In the framework of his business, he
bought, in 1983, the broadcasting rights of Israel TV for distribution in
the United States.
Like Yuval Ran in the 1990s, Aharoni was active mostly in the grey
market. At the time, the grey market was not very advanced, but even
then, one way to get into it was to buy companies in debt. Because
these businesses were in dire need of cash, Aharoni could buy them
cheaply, hoping to collect the debts and make a profit. To finance a
part of his activities, Aharoni took loans from commercial banks and
from private citizens. The guarantees against these loans were often
the same indebted businesses that he had bought.
So Aharoni failed in business as well. In November 1985 reports
began to appear about his "surprise" departure from the country. His
friends kept reassuring everybody that this was another "routine trip."
In January 1986, Aharoni had not yet returned. In addition to his
creditors, he left behind his wife, Clara, and their children - just like
Yuval Ran. This fact was made into a mini tragedy in the media,
following remarks by his wife, who said she was "left with four
children and 100 shekels, and that's it."
Declarations aside, in April, 1986, Clara Aharoni was no longer in the
country. She had joined her husband in New York. So here, too, the
case is practically identical to Yuval Ran's. Ran left the country in the
second half of April, 1997. People close to him, including his lawyer,
Yalon Hecht, claimed immediately afterward that this was a routine
trip and hushed the evil rumors of Ran's "escape."
His wife, Tsili, joined the reassuring announcements of his friends,
saying he would "return in a week." As opposed to Clara Aharoni,
Tsili Ran did not give many interviews to the media. She did,
however, leave the country with her children - four months after her
husband fled - and has been with him ever since. According to press
reports, the Rans have been cited recently in Texas.
Amos Aharoni refused to comment on this report |
