ii.
A meeting was arranged at the Claimant’s office to progress the matter.
Agreement was reached in respect of two different sums with different
purposes.
iii.
The first of the two sums was a loan in the sum of approximately
£200,000 that was crystallised during the meeting first as £212,000 then
as £202,000, and after the agreement had been drawn up further amended
by the First Defendant during the course of the conversation with the
solicitor to £202,407.95. This was the sum that was actually transferred.
The Claimant understood that the reason that this sum was needed was to
do with monies YLJT had borrowed in respect of works on the converted
synagogue. This was because he had been told this by the First Defendant
in a conversation a few days before the agreement was finalised.
iv.
This sum was a loan. It was to be repaid to the Claimant’s accountant so
the repayment could be recorded. No set date for repayment was
specified but the First Defendant had indicated that only short term use
was needed possibly for as little as 14 days.
v.
In addition to this loan, there was discussed another transaction, whereby
the Claimant would provide a sum of sterling that would be exchanged by
the charity for US dollars and a sum of US dollars would be available for
the Claimant in Jerusalem very shortly at a favourable exchange rate the
charity could obtain. The Claimant understood that this transaction
assisted the charity in enabling its assets in Jerusalem to be made
available in the UK. It also provided a benefit for him as he had a need
for dollars in Jerusalem at that time for an investment in a property
transaction his family was undertaking.
vi.
This part of the agreement was reached in the following way. A sum was
agreed in dollars to be collected by the Claimant. The First Defendant had
a calculator with him. He knew the rates at which the charity could
transfer sterling and convert it into dollars. The precise sum written down
was reached by this calculation. This sum was £120,443.39.
vii.
At the First Defendant’s suggestion Mr Fisher was called in Jerusalem.
The Claimant did not know or know of Mr. Fisher before this meeting.
Mr. Fisher was the First Defendant’s business agent in Jerusalem. The
purpose of phoning him was for the First Defendant to satisfy the
Claimant that the Trust had dollars ready for transfer in its Israel bank
account. He was also told that Mr. Fisher was a businessman of substance
in Israel who could be of assistance to the Claimant. The First Defendant
used a mobile phone to call Mr. Fisher and broadcast the conversation on
his speaker facility.
viii.
The meeting proceeded by way of the following sequence: first,
discussion; second, the telephone call to Mr Fisher; third the agreement
was concluded and was written down; fourth execution when there was a
call to the Claimant’s solicitor requesting him to make a CHAPS transfer
into the Trust’s bank account.