Police investigators arrested 13 suspects and detained dozens more, on suspicion of involvement in organizing and managing an illegal online gambling site.
Employers can receive a financial incentive of up to NIS 22,250. How? Enter
Obeying the 'Torah': Where can I get vaccinated without the need for an appointment?
Want more news, videos and stories? Join the Haredim 10 WhatsApp channel >>
Dozens of police officers from the National Economic Crime Unit (Yalak) in Lahav 433, together with the Diamond Unit from the Tax Authority, raided the homes and businesses of the suspects with the aim of making arrests and searches in order to expose the perpetrators of the crime and bring them to justice.
Among those arrested: a lawyer suspected of involvement in gambling operations, and ultra-Orthodox residents of Bnei Brak.
According to suspicion, the suspects managed and organized a website in Israel that dealt in betting "bets" on the results of games in various sports, with the aim of illegally generating financial profits through agents, who served as a "conduit" for transferring gamblers' money to the site's managers, while using money exchange businesses to commit money laundering offenses, offenses under the Money Laundering Prohibition Law, and tax offenses, amounting to tens of millions of shekels.
The investigation materials indicate that the gamblers lost large sums of money, with their collection allegedly being carried out in some cases by the site's administrators, through threats and pressure to pay the debt.
At the end of the searches, large amounts of cash in various currencies, documents, money counting machines, computers, telephones, and numerous SIM cards were seized.
All of the detainees were transferred for questioning at the Lahav 433 offices, and as necessary for the purposes of the investigation, the detainees will be brought to the Rishon LeZion Magistrate's Court for a hearing on extending their detention.
This is an investigation being conducted by the Israel Police together with investigators from the Tax Authority's Diamond Unit, with the assistance of the Authority for the Prohibition of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing and with the accompaniment of the Economic Department at the State Attorney's Office.
