The Israel Police today (Monday) arrested nine criminal elements from crime families in the Arab sector, on suspicion of extorting threats and receiving anything fraudulently from a number of citizens who legally won a land tender from the Israel Land Authority.
As part of the Israeli police's fight against crime families from Arab society, an undercover investigation was conducted in the National Unit for the Investigation of Serious and International Crime (Yahaval) last year, following suspicion of serious extortion by threats and receiving anything fraudulently from land tenders.
According to the suspicion, the same criminal elements allegedly approached the winners of a land tender in the Taibeh area and sent them a threatening message about their lives, claiming that the lands belonged to them and therefore the winners should cancel the win or alternatively pay them hundreds of thousands of shekels for those lands.
Although the win was legal and legitimate, in an orderly tender by the Israel Land Authority, the investigation revealed that some of the winners feared for their lives and apparently did not realize the win and had to cancel it due to fear of the suspects who threatened them.
Documentation: Arrest of 9 suspects in threats against winners of land tenders in the Arab sector // Photo: Israel Police
This morning, after an intensive investigation and the transition to an open investigation, dozens of police officers from the IAF, MFA (Director of Coordination of Enforcement Operations) and YSM police raided the homes of several suspects in the area of Tira, Nazareth, Taibeh and Umm al-Fahm, arrested the suspects and searched During the searches, tens of thousands of shekels in cash, more than 150,000 euros and hundreds of thousands of dollars were seized.
As part of the investigation, accompanied by the Tel Aviv District Attorney's Office (criminal), the suspects will be brought to the Magistrate's Court for an extension of detention on suspicion of extortion, receiving anything fraudulently, offenses under the Anti-Money Laundering Law and offenses under the Income Tax Ordinance.
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