The Tel Aviv District Court has seized the assets of Nicholas Levene at the request of Maccabi Netanya owner Daniel Jammer, who is suing the bankrupt British financier for £6.5 million.
The court is also considering a request by UK accountant Louise Brittain of Deloitte, appointed in October by the English courts as the trustee of Mr Levene’s assets, to enforce the bankruptcy order against him. He owes creditors £200 million.
However, it looks as though Mr Jammer’s prior claim to Mr Levene’s Israeli assets may have thwarted UK creditors. The Tel Aviv court seized a $5.5 million Herzliya home, registered in the name of Mr Levene’s wife Tracey, and a $700,000 Ramat Hasharon home registered in the name of his sister Sarah, because it accepted that both properties were bought with Mr Levene’s money. The court also seized several vehicles and a bank account in Mr Levene’s name.
For her part, Ms Brittain also wants to seize a four-room flat in Eilat registered in the name of Mr Levene’s parents, Anne and Martin.
However, Anne Levene, currently in Eilat, vehemently denied that the flat belonged to their son. She said: “This is our home, paid for by us, and I don’t understand why people want to take it away. The last month has been an absolute nightmare, and now this.”
Mrs Levene was unable to comment about ownership of her daughter Sarah’s home.
The Levenes moved to Israel 15 years ago after Martin Levene closed his electrical shop in Stanmore.
Mr Jammer claims that he paid Nicholas Levene £9 million last year to buy shares of a company being floated on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. When the public offering was cancelled he claims only £ 2.5 million was returned.
The only other Israeli creditor to have come forward is Mickey Dorson, the owner of Hapoel Holon basketball team and ex-husband of Israeli billionaire Shari Arison. Mr Dorson has registered his claim in the UK.
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