J'lem judge convicts Boaz Yona of all 9 charges against him

By DAN IZENBERG, YAAKOV LAPPIN
Jerusalem District Court judge Moshe Ravid on Monday convicted Boaz Yona, former CEO of the Heftsiba real estate development company - whose collapse last summer left hundreds of its customers penniless and homeless last summer, of all nine charges against him. Ravid, after convicting Yona, called for a recess so that the State could bring attorney Yitzhak Molcho, the receiver of Heftsiba, to testify about what measures had been taken to compensate the victims of the company's collapse. After the recess was called, several Heftsiba purchasers approached Yona and began shouting at him. One of them called him a thief, and demanded to know where he had hidden his money in Romania, to whence he fled after news the collapse. The nine charges, made in the context of a plea-bargain reached between Yona's attorneys and prosecutors, include committing a crime, conspiracy to commit fraud, fraudulently receiving funds in severe circumstances, keeping false company records, and use of forged documents.