Claude Lipsky, the 42-year-old Jewish financier wanted in France for alleged fraud and embezzlement, said yesterday that anti-Semitism was behind the charges against him and said that was why he came to Israel. Lipsky is a key figure in France’s worst financial scandal in recent years involving his mutual fund company and another firm headed by Jews. Meeting newsmen here for the first time he said there were 15 similar mutual funds in France specializing in real estate investments but that the police were after only the two Jewish firms and that only the Jewish directors of these companies have been arrested. The non-Jewish directors are still at large and are not wanted by the police, he said.
Lipsky’s firm has been accused of defrauding over 8,000 shareholders. He claimed that the Jewish firms gave shareholders the highest possible dividends on their investments and that the trouble started when a rival French firm persuaded the Finance Ministry that no honest company could pay such high rates. Lipsky said he came to Israel to fight for his good name and reputation because in France he would be jailed and could not prove his innocence. The French authorities are believed to be seeking Lipsky’s extradition. An extradition treaty was signed between France and Israel in 1958 but was not ratified by France and is not in effect. Legal circles here say that Lipsky cannot be extradited but his visitor’s visa can be rescinded if the interior Ministry judges his presence in Israel undesirable.
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