Israeli mafia linked to Crane case

[dArKeR]

The estranged husband of Johannesburg socialite Hazel Crane, killed on Monday in an apparent assassination attempt, was not a mafia "don" but a lieutenant to Yossi Harari, said to be the head of Israel's notorious Ramat Amidar gang.

Police in South Africa believe Harari, the head of Israel's largest crime family, came to South Africa in 1998 and stayed with both Crane's husband Shai Avissar and his then lieutenant Lior Saat. Saat is currently on trial for Avissar's murder.

Superintendent Chris Wilken said on Thursday that Crane, a close friend of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, was involved in criminal activity. She was convicted in 1993 of dealing in uncut diamonds and fined R50 000 (or two years in jail).

http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=23502&t=1