An Israeli billionaire narrowly escaped an attempted plot to murder him in Cyprus several days ago, Channel 12 News reported on Sunday.

The man was later identified as Israeli-Cypriot businessman Teddy Sagi, 49, who owns Camden Market in London and founded the gambling software company Playtech.

According to the report, a hitman of Azeri origin with a Russian passport was lying in wait for Sagi and other Israeli businessmen in Cyprus.

Sagi and his Israeli business associates escaped the country after receiving a last-minute warning from Cypriot security forces. Just two days later, Cypriot Police arrested the hitman near Sagi’s office and found a pistol, silencer, and gloves in his rental car.

Cypriot security authorities initially believed that the plot was an attempted Iranian terror attack but later discounted that possibility and said it was a planned attack specifically against Sagi, likely due to a financial dispute with ties to the Russian mob.

However, the Teddy Sagi group’s media consultant told Radio 103FM on Monday that the attempted attack was an Iranian terror attack attempt intended for Israelis in general and not specifically Sagi.

“The attempted attack was not specifically intended for Sagi but for Israelis who work in Cyprus,” he said. “If they would have encountered Teddy Sagi, I assume they would have been happy to harm him but it was an attempted attack on Israelis in Cyprus.”

On Monday afternoon, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s office, citing security officials, confirmed Sagi’s version that the attack was orchestrated by Iran against Israelis in Cyprus.

“As opposed to some of the reports yesterday regarding an incident in Cyprus, I can clarify on behalf of the security establishment, that this was an act of terror that was orchestrated by Iran against Israeli businesspeople living in Cyprus,” Bennett’s spokesperson stated.

“This is not a criminal act and the Israeli businessman Teddy Sagi was not the target of the attack.”

Sagi is the sixth wealthiest person in Israel with a personal wealth of $5.6 billion, according to Forbes.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)