Major Financial Crime Case Exposed: Police Uncover International Network Tied to Nearly NIS 500 Million

Police and the Tax Authority announced this morning (Wednesday) that they have cleared for publication the "Payment Voucher" affair, in which an international economic crime mechanism is suspected of carrying out fraud, money laundering, and tax offenses on a scale estimated at nearly half a billion shekels. As part of the investigation, three central suspects were arrested, and the court extended the detention of two of them, ages 48 and 56, from Kiryat Ye'arim and Tel Aviv, until tomorrow.

The investigation was conducted covertly for more than a year by investigators from the Fraud Division of the Central Unit in the Jerusalem District, in cooperation with investigators from the Jerusalem and Southern District Income Tax Investigations Office. According to the suspicions, the suspects operated a mechanism designed to launder money, evade taxes, and deliberately conceal income, causing significant harm to state revenues.

According to the joint statement from police and the Tax Authority, the case was given the name "Payment Voucher" because of the suspects' extensive use of payment vouchers connected to real estate transactions, which according to the suspicions served as one of the means for carrying out the offenses and concealing the movement of funds.

As part of the investigation, suspicions emerged that the suspects established and operated an extensive network of fictitious companies and nonprofit organizations in Israel and other countries. The suspicions further indicate that the method was based on receiving cash, distributing false invoices, and concealing the source of the money through bank transfers, real estate voucher payments, and the use of bank accounts registered in the names of family members.

Last Tuesday, the investigation moved into the overt stage, after joint forces from police and the Tax Authority raided the homes of 16 suspects. During the operation, several of them were arrested for questioning, while at the same time dozens of assets were seized that are suspected of having been purchased or obtained through money originating in fraud and concealed income. Alongside the questioning of the central suspects, dozens of additional individuals have so far been investigated, after they were suspected of receiving and using the network's services for money laundering and the commission of fraud offenses.