Tel Aviv District Court Judge Benny Sagi sentenced Mahmoud al-Mohi, 18, from Hebron, to 37 months in prison for paying 500 shekels for forging an ID card, then obtained a license for a Jericho weapon and pistol and worked as a security guard at the Holon Mall.
According to the indictment, Al-Momenti, who has a rich criminal record, decided in April of this year to try working in Israel. He contacted another person in the Occupied Territories, sent him his photo for making a fake ID card, and paid him 500 shekels for it. Using his fake ID card, he entered Israel and interviewed for a job as a security guard at the Holon Mall at A.G. Security and Services Consulting.
Tel Aviv District Court, Photo: Gideon Markowitz
The indictment states that he underwent lengthy screening procedures at a security company, including a shooting range, a security examiner course, psychologist and doctor tests, all while posing as a resident of Nazareth, presenting a forged ID card and concealing that he is a resident of the Occupied Territories with a rich criminal record. At the end of the admission process, Al-Momenti fraudulently received Jericho weapons and magazines from the security company, and worked as an armed security guard on its behalf.
The defendant has 16 previous convictions for IPS offenses, impersonating another person with the intent to defraud, interfering with a police officer in the performance of his duty, threats, theft of a vehicle and theft of a debit card. In court, he confessed to the acts, claiming that he acted in order to find a livelihood and nothing more. He detailed how he worked to obtain the forged ID, how he was hired, and how he obtained a permit to carry weapons.
Mall // Moshe Ben Simhon
A desire to support the family
During the trial, there was no real dispute between the parties because this was a "fraudulent" case and not one that involved security offenses. The parties agreed that this was an incident in which the only motive underlying the defendant's actions was a desire to provide for his family, and in practice the requirement that he possess a weapon during his shift was placed by the security company as a condition of his employment. "It was he who insisted on possessing the weapon only during the shifts he carried out, and depositing it in the safe of the shopping center at the end of each shift – even though he could have taken the weapon home and used it criminally," the verdict reads. It added: "There is some reason in the defense's argument that once the defendant received possession of the weapon, there is no allegation that he took advantage of the situation."
Attorneys Michal Rubenstein and Moshe Kesheles, representing Al-Mosheki on behalf of the defense: "Mahmoud claimed all along that all his actions were to make a living and did not act proactively to obtain weapons. The court accepted our main argument that Mahmoud's illegal actions were the result of economic hardship and a desire to earn a living, and nothing more."
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