http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1118197312211 By YAAKOV KATZ Jun. 8, 2005 Yitzhak Rath, CEO of the Modi'in Ezrahi [1] private investigation firm, arrested two weeks ago in connection with the Trojan horse virus industrial espionage affair, fell over the second floor railing in the stairwell at the Hayarkon Police Station in Tel Aviv on Wednesday. Rath was hospitalized in Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv in serious and unstable condition. Deputy Tel Aviv police chief Lt.-Cmdr. Dani Hen appointed a senior officer to investigate the incident. Police said that while it appeared Rath - following an interrogation session with Fraud Squad investigators - jumped out of the window to commit suicide, other possibilities were also being investigated. Rath was arrested two weeks ago on suspicion his private investigation firm planted a Trojan horse virus inside the computers of his clients' competitors to steal classified commercial information. The Trojan horse affair has implicated a number of leading companies in the country's largest-ever industrial espionage affair. Senior managers from leading companies, including Bezeq subsidiaries Yes and Pelephone and competing telecommunications giant Cellcom, were arrested for allegedly using the virus to obtain classified information from their competitors. Other companies accused were Meir Car Imports (importers of Volvo and Honda) and the Tami-4 mineral water retailer. Rath's company was one of several PI firms which allegedly purchased the virus from Michael Haephrati - an Israeli living in London and currently facing extradition to Israel - which they used to spy on their client's competitors. Rath's attorney, Zion Amir, said Wednesday that if police determined his client tried committing suicide he would not be surprised. "This is a very serious matter," Amir said. "It makes no sense that police have been keeping him in custody for 18 days on suspicion he may have worked together with Haephrati. Under these circumstances it comes as no surprise that someone might commit suicide." [1] http://www.mei.co.il/english/about.html _________________________________________ Attend the Black Hat Briefings and Training, Las Vegas July 23-28 - 2,000+ international security experts, 10 tracks, no vendor pitches. www.blackhat.com
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