{"id":191706,"date":"2019-07-18T05:42:28","date_gmt":"2019-07-18T05:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=191706"},"modified":"2019-07-22T07:09:22","modified_gmt":"2019-07-22T07:09:22","slug":"israel-has-become-a-haven-for-international-scammers-and-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=191706","title":{"rendered":"Israel Has Become a Haven for International Scammers and Fraud"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alison Weir \u2013 Mint Press Nov 14, 2019<\/strong><\/h1>\n
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Gilbert Chikli, 50, and his wife Shirly Chikli, 31, pose for a photo at their villa in Ashdod, Israel, March 28, 2016. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n

French and Israeli media report that a group largely made up of Israelis scammed\u00a0 3,000 French citizens<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0out of approximately $20 million.\u00a0 Most of the stolen money is in Israel, but Israeli authorities are reportedly failing to cooperate with France in prosecuting the scammers and retrieving the money.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the latest of numerous examples of Israeli officials\u00a0stonewalling<\/strong><\/span><\/a>\u00a0international efforts against the\u00a0perpetrators<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0of massive financial swindles around the world, according to Israeli investigative journalists and others. These scams have brought estimated billions into the Israeli economy, propping up a regime widely condemned for\u00a0human rights abuses<\/strong><\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0ethnic cleansing<\/strong><\/span><\/a>\u00a0against indigenous Palestinians. Together, the stories paint a picture of a government that seems to be turning a blind eye to \u2013 and even protecting \u2013 scammers.<\/span><\/p>\n

A\u00a0Finance Magnates<\/em>\u00a0analysis<\/strong><\/span><\/a>\u00a0reports that one of the swindles alone has brought in over a billion dollars and employs 5,000 people. And a new scam, described below, may help what is predicted to be \u201cthe next major driver of the Israeli economy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A former IRS expert on international crime\u00a0notes<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0that \u201cfraudulent industries are often major economic drivers, and that can translate into political clout.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Some Israeli journalists have been working to expose the situation in Israeli newspapers, publishing expos\u00e9s like \u201cAs Israel turns blind eye to vast binary options fraud, French investigators step in<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/em>\u201d and\u00a0\u201cAre French Jewish criminals using Israel as a get-out-of-jail card?<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u201d<\/em> (Short answer: yes.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Victimizing French business owners & churches<\/h2>\n

The victims of the recent scam against French citizens included churches and the owners of small businesses \u2013 delicatessens, car repair shops, hair salons, plumbers, etc. Some lost their life savings and\u00a0describe<\/strong><\/span><\/a>\u00a0being threatened and intimidated by the scammers.<\/span><\/p>\n

The masterminds of the scam reportedly were Antoine Ilan Frau (aka Ilan Frau) and Michael Nedjar, both of whom resided in Israel at the time. French police arrested the two at the Paris airport in 2016 as they were about to return to Israel. While they and 25 others were subsequently found guilty in a French court, other alleged co-conspirators have not yet been arrested and are believed to be in Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Times of Israel (TOI)<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/a>\u00a0reports that most of the money was channeled to Israel and has not yet been recovered. The newspaper reports that Israeli law enforcement authorities \u201chave been unhelpful in enabling further investigation of the scam and in recovering the stolen funds.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

TOI,<\/em>\u00a0which obtained the full French verdict statement, reports: \u201cIn 200 pages of matter-of-fact legal prose, the verdict paints a picture of Israeli authorities unwilling to cooperate with their French counterparts.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Another\u00a0Times of Israel<\/u><\/em>\u00a0<\/u>article reports: \u201cThe exact number of French citizens thought to be evading authorities in Israel is unknown, but France has sent to Israel at least 70 formal requests for judicial assistance with cases involving suspected fraud by dual nationals residing in the Jewish state.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Below are some of the other Israeli-connected scams victimizing people around the world that observers accuse the Israeli government of largely ignoring.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gilbert Chikli, \u201cthe world\u2019s greatest con artist\u201d<\/h2>\n

In 2016\u00a0Ha\u2019aretz<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/u>reported on an Israeli con artist named Gilbert Chikli, who boasts of pioneering a multi-million dollar scam that also targeted people in France. The\u00a0New York Post<\/em>\u00a0has called him \u201cthe\u00a0world\u2019s greatest con artist<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The scam, which targeted banks and businesses, cost French companies an estimated 7.9 million euros.\u00a0Approximately 52 employees of the companies taken in by him were subsequently fired.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite French extradition requests,\u00a0Ha\u2019aretz<\/em>\u00a0reported in 2016 that Chikli \u201cmysteriously remains a free man, living in luxury in his villa in a seaside Israeli city as French authorities try to bring him to justice over a massive con for which he was previously convicted.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Gilbert Chikli stands near the pool of his villa during an interview with the Associated Press in the Port city of Ashdod, Israel., Nov. 10, 2015. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n

Although a French court sentenced Chikli to a seven-year prison sentence,\u00a0Ha\u2019aretz\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>that instead of being incarcerated, Chikli was \u201changing out at his private swimming pool.\u201d\u00a0Israeli officials\u00a0refused<\/strong><\/span><\/a>\u00a0to explain why Chikli was allowed to live freely in Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

Far from disputing the French conviction, Chikli\u00a0bragged<\/strong><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>on Israeli TV about his technique: \u201cYou get off on it. Because you\u2019re 5,000 kilometers from Paris with a telephone and a 100-euro calling card and you can make 10 million euros\u201d [over $11 million].<\/span><\/p>\n

Chikli boasted that he had a good life in Israel, where he dealt in real estate (in addition, it appears, to continuing his scams). He also made an estimated several thousand euros for \u201cconsultancy services\u201d to a director who made a film based on Chikli\u2019s story.<\/span><\/p>\n

The film generated unprecedented attention in France, as it depicted \u201can Israeli-French underworld out of reach of French authorities,\u201d\u00a0in the words of\u00a0TOI<\/em>, \u201cbecause of the complications in extraditing suspects from Israel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Chikli remained free in Israel from 2009 until he traveled to Ukraine in 2017, where he and another Israeli (also\u00a0wanted<\/strong><\/span><\/a>\u00a0by French authorities) were finally arrested, and Chikli was extradited to France. He was\u00a0jailed<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0and indicted\u00a0for an additional scam perpetrated while he was at large.<\/span><\/p>\n

A\u00a0French report<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0states that during his time in Ukrainian detention, Chikli\u00a0was\u00a0\u201cfilmed drinking vodka in his cell, toasting his wealth, swearing never to return to France, and abusing the French judicial system.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Binary Options brings in $10 billion\/year to Israel<\/h2>\n

Another international scam is Israel\u2019s notorious\u00a0binary options industry<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, which has\u00a0brought in $10 billion a year. While the Israeli legislature made it illegal to sell the fraudulent options to Israelis, the Israeli legislature only belatedly (and partially) began to crack down on sales abroad. Millions of people around the world have been victimized by the scam, some committing\u00a0suicide<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/a>as a result.<\/span><\/p>\n

An investigative report on the industry was aired on the French prime-time television magazine \u201cEnvoy\u00e9 Sp\u00e9cial\u201d in 2016: \u201cLa ruine \u00e0 port\u00e9e de clic\u201d (\u201cFinancial ruin at the click of a mouse\u201d).\u00a0According to the report, tens of thousands of French citizens had been victimized by binary options and similar frauds.<\/span><\/p>\n

The TV report calls Israel a \u201csafe house\u201d for fraudsters and shows\u00a0undercover video\u00a0of\u00a0one of the Israeli call centers. Young French speakers \u2014 many of them new immigrants to Israel \u2014 are seen calling people in France and Europe, persuading them to \u201cinvest\u201d in the scam. As they work to dupe people, the video shows employees dancing and laughing. When a bell rings announcing that they\u2019ve succeeded and someone has given them money, they cheer.<\/span><\/p>\n