Receivership Order Issued on Israeli Diamond Veteran Uri Schwartz

Jan 11, 2016 9:45 AM By Rapaport News

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RAPAPORT... A receivership order was issued for assets owned by the former Israel Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA) president Uri Schwartz following unpaid debt of more than $2 million (NIS 8 million), local daily Globes reported January 10.

Israel-based Bank Leumi intends to foreclose the veteran diamond dealer’s home in the upmarket Sea and Sun project in Tel Aviv and seize other assets, including an apartment on Ben Yehuda Street in the Israeli city, the news report said.

Schwartz has “given up,” Globes cited his lawyer Avichay Vardi as saying in a meeting with senior bank officials. His borrowings are estimated at $19.9 million before a debt arrangement. The $2 million owed to Bank Leumi was guaranteed by the Israel Diamond Institute chairman Moti Ganz, who claims his guarantee is “no longer valid,” Globes reported.

Schwartz Diamonds slipped in recent years, in line with a downturn in the industry, according to the report. The business was based on marketing diamonds to overseas customers from Far Eastern countries and the U.S., the newspaper cited a Bank Leumi petition as saying, filed through the lender’s law firm B. Levinbook & Co. Schwartz pleaded in response he had been forced to discontinue the company’s activities after putting $13.5 million of “owner’s loans” into the business, according to the report.

"I am in the situation of counting my last crumbs,” Globes cited Schwartz as saying in the minutes of the meeting. “I cannot give any more than what I have."

Schwartz’s debts include $12.5 million to Discount Bank before a debt arrangement, $2.1 million to Union Bank of Israel, various amounts to suppliers on the Israel Diamond Exchange with whom he reached an arrangement, and to family members, the news report cited a list produced by the former IDMA president as saying.

Tags: Israel, Israel Diamond Manufacturers Association, legal, Rapaport News, Uri Schwartz