Israeli Diamond Magnate Buys 35 million Pound Bullet-Proof London Mansion

London property maybe expensive but its tax rates are most definitely not and the reason Lev Leviev, Israel’s richest man, emigrated to Britain, where wealthy foreigners are not asked to pay tax on income earned overseas.

Moving into the 35-million-pound bullet-proof house in Hampstead this month, Leviev moved to this prestigious London neighbourhood with his wife, Olga and two youngest children. He should feel quite at home and in good company as it appears several of his neighbours include a number of mega-rich Israeli tycoons who also prefer UK tax rates.

The purchase of the city mansion is believed to part of an international property buying spree which started when Leviev sold his private jet reportedly to be replaced by a bigger one. His acquisitions included the former New York Times building, for which he paid almost 300-million pounds.

Seven of his remaining children have stayed in Israel, where their daughter Tzvia Leviev-Alazarov, will take charge of the family’s Israeli Diamond interests. According to The Independent, renowned internationally for breaking the De Beers controlled diamond cartel, Leviev famous bought up diamond mines in Russia, Angola and Namibia and today it is said that one third of all the diamonds sold anywhere in the world are cut and polished by his company. He recently opened a jewellery shop in New York’s Madison Avenue.

The drain of wealth from Tel Aviv to London is increasingly apparent as wealthy Israeli business magnates up sticks to friendlier tax climes. The departure even had a knock-on effect on Leviev’s own company, Africa-Israel Investments knocking 11 per cent of it’s stock market value.