Elliot Broidy and Ehud Olmert

There will be a little to read if you want to understand what is going on and what is about to happen. We will start with a recap of the story of Elliot Broidy, he was the founder of Markstone Capital and sat on more than a few public pension boards. Here is a must read article"

Globes - Labor of Love (as republished by IVC)

The article talks about how Mr. Broidy was able to make his company the largest private equity firm in Israel. It discusses how his first discussions with an "anchor investor" (think of having enough money to make your firm noticeable and attract other money) was with Alan Hevesi. Mr. Hevesi was the New York State Comptroller. Mr. Hevesi was sentenced last year for taking $1 million in bribes from Mr. Broidy.

New York Times - Hevesi Sentenced to One to Four Years

If we go back to the article title "Labor of Love" we discover that one of the people who Broidy credited with helping him in investing in Israeli businesses was Ehud Olmert. Mr Olmert the former Israeli Prime Minister has just been indicted for corruption and bribery in Israel. He is accused of taking bribes in exchange for helping people involved in land development deals.

Now you might think that I haven't shown the connection between these people enough; but, then we meet Mr. Bradley D. Simon. Mr. Simon is a former U.S. Attorney prosecutor who now specializes in white collar crime. Mr. Simon is representing Mr. Hevesi and Mr. Morris Talansky who is a businessman that is at the center of the case against Mr. Olmert. It has been said that the United States is also investigating other Americans who may have been involved in the actions of Mr. Olmert.

So, what are we looking at? We are looking at public pension funds funding a company that was the biggest private equity firm in Israel that managed to lose money and whose founder was convicted of giving bribes to politicians in New York and was also connected to an indicted former Israeli Prime Minister. We have investigations on going in both the United States and in Israel; but, what will the result be?

Here is my fear. There may come a time when we see many people go to jail for corruption involving Community Redevelopment Agencies, Public Pensions and bribery and this is international in scope. For those who dislike Israel this could be a major public relations coup. When it all comes out, it will harm the support of Americans for Israel and that is a shame. Whatever the specifics were, it is all coming out now. Let us hope that none of this was officially sanctioned.