Oligarch diamonds gone rough?

JTA — No legal claims exist in a lawsuit between two Russian-Israeli businessmen, the High Court in London ruled.

Arkady Gaydamak, who once ran for mayor of Jerusalem, had sued Lev Leviev for approximately $1 billion, claiming that Leviev owed him the money in a 2001 deal to export diamonds from Angola, according to the Jewish Chronicle. Gaydamak argued that he and Leviev had agreed to share profits from the exports, but that Gaydamak had stopped receiving payments in 2005.

Gaydamak claimed that the only signed copy of the agreement had been deposited with Berel Lazar, one of Russia’s two chief rabbis. According to the Jewish Chronicle, Lazar signed a witness statement saying that he had lost the agreement.

Nonetheless, the High Court upheld the 2001 deal. But the court also upheld a settlement from last year in which they agreed to drop all legal claims. Gaydamak plans to appeal the decision.

During the case, former Mossad official Avi Dagan testified on behalf of Gaydamak.