Crypto and Binary Options Scam: Dozens of Israelis Extradited to Germany

Dozens of Israelis were extradited to Germany in connection with crypto and binary options scams that siphoned about 1 billion euros from victims over five years, according to two local Israeli news outlets, Mako and Posta.

The fraud also involved former Israeli footballer Liron Basis, who was arrested last week in Moscow at the request of German authorities. He is now in a detention centre in Moscow and is expected to be extradited to Germany. The reports outlined that Basis is a suspect in a fraud of about 30 million euros.

Basis has hired a local lawyer and denied the acquisitions against him. Many other Israeli arrested and extradited to Germany were represented by Nir Rotenberg and Gib Rotenberg, who successfully obtained lighter sentences for many, while some were released to house arrest until the end of the trial.

Busting the Gang Operations

The local police revealed that the Israeli criminal organisations operated from offices in Ramat Gan and Bnei Brak. They also ran operations from cities in Eastern European countries, like Sofia, Belgrade, Budapest, Prague, Bucharest, Tbilisi, and others, employing dozens of German, Spanish, and Italian-speaking staff.

The modus operandi of the gangs involved connecting with pensioners in high-income European countries and persuading them to invest in binary options with promises of high returns. They mostly targeted German nationals, which alerted the German authorities.

“They establish cover companies, employ local young people and Israelis who supervise them, and operate without a trading license from those countries,” an Israeli police officer told Mako.

Binary options are banned in many countries, including Israel. Instead, many criminal groups lure victims by offering instruments that are very simple to understand—the payout is based simply on the up or down movement of an asset in a short period of time. These criminal gangs, however, usually do not invest the proceeds they collect from the victims.

Germans Are High Value Target

In another similar forex fraud case, the German authorities filed a case last month, naming two Israelis, Timor Rukhlin and Tal Aharon, both of whom were extradited to Germany.

According to the indictment, published in Posta, Rukhlin headed a financial criminal organisation that operated trading platforms under more than five different names and also targeted victims, mostly German, by telephone. According to the indictment, the organisation swindled 27 million euros, out of which 10 million euros came from German speakers. Aharon, on the other hand, was part of a Bulgaria-based criminal gang, other members of which are also being chased by the German police.

The previous indictment by the German authorities also connected Rukhlin and Aharon to Airsoft, the Israeli company that provided the malicious technology to conduct the fraud. Last September, the Israeli police raided the Ramat Gan offices of Airsoft, Finance Magnates reported. However, the mastermind behind Airsoft, Jeremy Katlan, also known as Roni Hajjaj, fled Israel and is still at large.

Rotenberg lawyers also represented Aharon and has managed to obtain a release order for him while the trial is ongoing. The lawyers also softened the charges against Aharon, only for his involvement in fraud. Rukhlin, on the other hand, is under house arrest.

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