Russian-Israeli tycoon Arkady Gaydamak sues Lev Leviev
Arkady Gaydamak, the controversial Russian-Israeli tycoon and convicted arms dealer, is suing his business partner, the billionaire Lev Leviev, after a bust-up over their African diamond mining interests.
In papers filed with the high court, Gaydamak alleges that his former friend has failed to pay commissions and dividends earned trading diamonds from Angola and Zaire since 2004 – having received monthly payments from Leviev of "on average $3m" (£1.8m) between 2000 and 2003. Gaydamak estimates that the value of his assets is in the region of $2bn.
Leviev, who Forbes calculates is the world's 782nd richest man with a fortune of $1.6bn, is fighting the claim which he describes as "embarrassing and prejudicial".
The dispute centres around the pair's interest in a diamond sales operation called Ascorp, previously thought to be owned by the Angolan government, Leviev and Antwerp-based Omega Diamonds.
However, Gaydamak states in his claim that he really owned 24.5% of the company and that his involvement was kept secret after "it was agreed that the public positioning of [Leviev] as owner and controller of the relevant assets was for convenience only. [Leviev] was a trustee vis-a-vis [Gaydamak's] share of the relevant assets".
Leviev's defence disputes Gaydamak's version of the deal, but he "reserves the right to plead further … on proper particularisation of the investment alleged to have been made by [Gaydamak] in Ascorp".
Gaydamak's claim comes in the wake of a string of setbacks over the past few years. The tycoon unsuccessfully ran to become mayor of Jerusalem in 2008, was convicted by a French court in 2009 for illegal arms trading to Angola in the 1990s, and has also been charged with money laundering in Israel.
He has denied guilt in both cases, and has appealed against the arms trading conviction. He now lives in Moscow.
Leviev's contacts with Angola's government led to him gaining a foothold in the country's rough-diamond supply. Following concerns that illicit diamond trading funded the Angolan civil war and could taint legal production, Leviev says he presented the country with a plan to reduce smuggling and increase revenues by funnelling diamonds through only one source – and the government accepted the plan.
The Uzbekistan-born Israeli citizen, who owns a home in Hampstead, north London, has also attracted controversy beyond Angola. His diamond store on New York's Madison Avenue is a frequent target for protesters attempting to raise awareness about Leviev's companies' involvement in settlement construction in the West Bank.