The fight against extortion: A statement of claim was filed against three senior figures from the Dakhba crime organization. In recent months, a covert investigation was conducted by a task force in the National Bureau for Counter-Terrorism Financing.
Israel Police filed a claim against 3 senior Dakhba crime figures for extortion, money laundering, and coercion in construction projects.
This is a significant investigation led by the Lahav 433’s National Bureau for Counter-Terrorism Financing and Fraud, in cooperation with the Tax Authority, the Prohibition on Money Laundering Authority, and with the accompaniment of the Economic Department in the State Attorney’s Office. With the transition from a covert to an overt investigation, the unit launched an arrest operation in Jaffa and the south of the country. According to the suspicion, the suspects instilled fear, extorted threats, collected protection money, and coerced various services in the fields of construction, infrastructure, and security for a long time from several large contracting companies building projects in the Pardes complex, all with the aim of controlling all the work performed in Pardes and keeping other service providers away. The illicit funds, valued at millions of shekels, received from coercing services were laundered through companies belonging to others, which served as a cover for the criminal activity, while committing offenses against the tax authorities, alongside financial damage caused by the suspects in various ways to the contracting companies. With the completion of all investigative actions, a statement of claim was filed regarding the intention to file an indictment against the suspects and a request for their detention until the end of proceedings.
