Uriel
Kelman was also a member of the Israeli Defence
Force when he visited New Zealand in February and
March 1999, travelling on a Canadian
passport.
Wellington, NZ,
[agents]The
Israelis pleaded guilty but denied they were Mossad agents
Israeli spy a bugging expert
By DEBORAH DIAZ
Suspected Israeli spy Uriel
Kelman (left in picture) was employed by an international consultancy that designs surveillance systems and listening devices.
He was also a member of the Israeli Defence
Force when he visited New Zealand in February and
March 1999, travelling on a
Canadian passport. He was not discharged from the army till October that year.
Kelman, 31, and his co-defendant, Eli
Cara, 50, were sentenced to six months’ prison last Thursday and ordered to pay $50,000 each to the Cerebral Palsy Society. They admitted attempting to get a New Zealand passport in the name of an Auckland man immobilised by that condition.
The Government says it has strong grounds to believe the pair worked in intelligence and last week suspended top-level contact with Israel.
Kelman worked for Israel-based YTS Systems between 1999 and 2002 marketing products and services in Israel and internationally, according to a letter from the company provided to the High
Court when he was sentenced last week.
YTS advertises anti-terrorism and hi-tech surveillance services, ranging from risk assessments to advice on building fitouts.
Its website says it has designed security systems for six embassies of unnamed countries, with buildings in the United States, Germany and
Africa.
Nothing submitted to the court last week gave any clue as to Kelman’s present employer. But, before his arrest, he told Auckland acquaintances he was in a similar line of work — that he was a bugging specialist contracted to a private security firm looking at establishing a branch in
Sydney.
This would mean Kelman has worked in the industry since 1999.
According to crown evidence at depositions,
Kelman visited New Zealand for two months on a
Canadian passport in February 1999.
A discharge certificate supplied to the court at sentencing shows Kelman left the army in October that year, after six years’ service.
The YTS testimonial describes Kelman as an industrious and loyal employee who demonstrated creativity and strategic thinking. He was a good colleague, personally honest, respectful of others and willing to assist.
YTS’s website says the company was founded in
1987, and that co-founder and security manager
Tal Berman served in a “top-secret special intelligence unit of the Israel Defence Forces, where he was responsible for developing and constructing smart electronic equipment for special missions and field operations”.
According to evidence filed at Auckland District
Court in March, Aucklander Michael Zandvoort
told police he met Kelman in the latter part of
2003, when the Israeli went by the name of
John.
John had said he was contracted to a company dealing with electronic security and bug detection.
He was looking around Sydney to set up a branch.
Meanwhile, a New Zealand news website has reported that a third Mossad suspect — Zev
William Barkan, 37 — who fled New Zealand is in North Korea.
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