Tel Aviv’s district court has dismissed what co-founder and former Vesttoo chief executive Yaniv Bertele’s camp deems an “unfounded request” to seize substantial sums through asset foreclosures. The request targeted Bertele, fellow co-founder and former chief financial engineer Alon Lifshitz, former employees Udi Ginati and Joshua Rurka, and Tal Ezer, who served as a finder for Vesttoo.
According to a CTech report, the court ruled that Vesttoo, an embattled insurtech implicated in a letters of credit fraud scandal, is prohibited from filing a similar request in the future. Additionally, the court ordered the immediate removal of foreclosures imposed on the five individuals involved in the scandal.
Bertele’s lawyers, Merav Bar-Zik and Tal Shapira, welcomed the dismissal, emphasizing that they had argued from the outset that the request was baseless and inappropriate. Lifshitz’s legal team echoed similar sentiments, asserting that the foreclosures imposed on him lacked evidence and were unjustified.
While Vesttoo accepted the court’s decision, it maintained that the dismissal was primarily procedural and did not undermine the fraud allegations against Bertele and others. The company emphasized that the court’s ruling pertained to the filing procedure and did not address the substantial evidence uncovered during the investigation.
Vesttoo stated, “The decision itself does not change a thing in relation to the scope of the documented evidence found as part of the investigation.” The company underscored that the lawsuit should proceed through a normal civil procedure rather than a shortened process.
Separately, a committee of Vesttoo creditors recently reached a settlement agreement with Chaucer Group for a US$15.6 million settlement, representing 82.5% of the assets in a Vesttoo unit. The settlement was approved by a US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware judge.
