Walter Soriano

Walter Zvi Soriano (born December 24, 1967) is an Israeli-British businessman, owner of an international security firm USG Security Ltd, and is an associate of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Soriano resides in London and holds both Israeli and British citizenship.

Biography

Soriano was born in Argentina and immigrated to Israel as a young man. He served in the Israel Defense Forces as an intelligence officer, and later moved to London.

On October 3, 2002, Soriano set up an international security company called the Universe Security Group, based in London, jointly owned with Guy Nagar and Yitzhak Molcho, who received about half of the company's shares. The company's board of directors also includes Nahum Admoni, who served as the Director-General of the Mossad from 1982 to 1989, and Uri Sagi, former head of the Military Intelligence Directorate. Admoni and Sagi retired in September 2009. In 2005, the company's activities were expanded to Spain. Its main activity was private investigations and obtaining information for government and private entities.

In 2007, Soriano was involved in an arms trade deal when he sold three helicopters, through the mediation of Gal Hirsch a formar an Israeli brigadier general, to the Georgian army, while Hirsch served as an adviser to the Georgian Defense Minister.

In 2008, the Universe Security Group was mentioned as having trained CIA agents who were part of a corruption case during which they received bribes in security deals. These agents, and Republican politician Duke Cunningham, received lengthy prison sentences.

On 6 August 2009, the Graff Diamonds shop in central London was robbed. The shop was guarded by Soriano's company, who was ordered to pay high compensation for the security failure. After the incident, the company ceased operations, and in its place, on April 27, 2010, Soriano set up a similar company, called USG Security.

In 2014, USG signed a contract with the Russian government ahead of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, according to which the company will train the security personnel of the Sochi airport, and will carry out direct control over the security of the airport during the Olympic Games. The company that manages Sochi Airport is controlled by the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. According to an affidavit by journalist Raviv Drucker, USG's customers include several wealthy individuals, including Roman Abramovich and Dmitry Rybolovlev. The company provides them with services in legal disputes with other businessmen, or when they are under criminal investigation.

A Globes article on Soriano quotes court documents and documents describing the USG's practices: "Soriano has used sources in the United States, Europe, India and Israel, including agents, poker players, gamblers, journalists, lawyers, lobbyists and government officials." The article describes the company's activities that took place between 2008 and 2011 during which Soriano was hired by billionaire Ruth Parasol to collect and analyse intelligence information about a criminal investigation that took place against her in the United States, for violating the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. Parasol's company, PartyGaming, eventually entered a non-prosecution agreement with the Justice Department and paid a fine of $105 million.

Soriano owns other companies, including "Tov 7", "Tov 77", "WS London Management", "Crossroads Property 2" and "London Western Ranch", companies that are engaged in real estate development and management in the UK. He was also previously the owner of "Football Universe Limited", which in 2010 offered the British football club Aston Villa Diego Maradona as coach, replacing Martin O'Neill.

In July 2016, Soriano expanded its real estate operations to the United States, establishing a company in Florida called Playland Investments with Israeli partners - Guy Levintin and Doron Cohen. The company managed a number of real estate transactions with private and business clients.

In June 2019, Soriano was summoned to a closed-door hearing by the United States Senate on Russia's interference in the 2016 US presidential election. The Intelligence Committee of the Upper House of the Congress sought to examine the connection between it and the companies Psy-Group, Wikistrat and Black Cube.

In May 2020, Soriano joined the board of directors of PAVOCAT, a company that provides anti-corruption services to companies and governments.

Links to Prime Minister Netanyahu

In 2000, Soriano was one of the founders of the association commemorating the name and memory of Jonathan Netanyahu, who was killed in Operation Entebbe. That same year Soriano produced a film about Jonathan Netanyahu's life, which incorporated materials provided by the Netanyahu family.

After Netanyahu's election defeated by Ehud Barak in the 1999 elections, Netanyahu temporarily retired from politics and went into business. During that time, according to Soriano, he worked with Netanyahu on a number of high-tech ventures in the United States. In 2002 he recruited Netanyahu for paid lectures at fundraising evenings held in Mexico City for the "Lev Malka organization", which helps patients from low-income families. The story was published by Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, which claimed that Netanyahu was paid 180,000 US dollars for two days work. Soriano confirmed to the paper that while living in Jerusalem he had close ties with Netanyahu, and often went together training, and that they did business together.  

According to an affidavit to the court of a man named Doron Stampler, in 2006 Soriano initiated a meeting between Netanyahu and Mexican businessman Alonso Ancira who purchased the disused Timna Valley copper mines in southern Israel during Netanyahu's tenure as Finance Minister. Stampler claims his company was hired for Soriano to conduct a security survey on the assets of a giant Mexican company, which belongs to Ansira. "I remember that in that conversation and to impress me, Mr. Soriano told me that Mr. Ansira had purchased the Timna mines and wants to restart production". "Soriano reiterated - perhaps to impress me - that Mr. Netanyahu is a partner in the project, thus explaining his expectation that government ministries will not pile difficulties on the project."

In Raviv Drucker's affidavit to the court, he notes additional ties between Soriano and the Netanyahu family regarding transportation services and security services.

In early 2018, Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh was interviewed by journalist Ilana Dayan. In the interview, Alsheikh said, amongst other, that private investigators are gathering information against Lahav 433 officers involved in investigating Netanyahu's cases. Media reports subsequently raised the possibility that Walter Soriano was behind this activity.

Defamation suits

Soriano has failed several Defamation claims against Journalists, who published stories about him and online media companies.

In February 2018, he failed a 500,000 shekel defamation claim against Israeli Journalist Raviv Drucker, and in May 2019 failed a second claim for 580,000 shekel against Drucker, together with the website HaAyin HaShevi'it, Journalist Oren Persico and Editor Shuki Tausig, claiming all three have been coordinating to publish stories to harm his reputation.

In May 2018 Soriano failed a speculative claim in Israel against Richard Silverstein for publishing and article about him in his blog Tikun Olam. The claim was rejected by a Magistrates' Court, than by the District Court. Soriano appealed to the Supreme Court of Israel, but a Supreme Court judge rejected his case, stating that: "As is apparent from the judgment of the District Court, the applicant, a resident of the United Kingdom, has filed a suit against the respondent, a resident of the United States, on the grounds of defamation, invasion of privacy and negligence...However, it has been determined that Israel is not the proper forum for clarifying the claim, and that there is no reason why this will be ascertained in the United States, at the place of residence of the defendant". 

In October 2019, Soriano sued Twitter in Dublin for defamation, and in an interview in for the Daily Telegraph, he stated that he plans to sue Google as well.

Personal life

Soriano became an observant Ultra-Orthodox Jew, from 2000 to 2004 lived in Jerusalem and studied Torah with Rabbi Moshe Shapira. He then returned to live in the Golders Green neighborhood of London, where he opened a synagogue named after Rabbi Shapira and in his memory. He is involved in the life of the Jewish community in London and often contributes to charity. His wife organises religious conferences for the Jewish preacher Yemima Mizrahi and the Hidbraut organization in London. He also owns an apartment in Jerusalem, and his sons study at Mir Yeshiva.