The Tel Aviv District Court approved the police order to close a money exchange business in Bnei Brak amid suspicions that it was used as a money laundering device in the service of the Abu Latif crime organization
The District Court in Tel Aviv accepted the state’s position and rejected the petition of a money exchange business in Bnei Brak against its closure by police order, amid suspicions that it was used as a money laundering device in the service of the Abu Latif crime organization. The Abu Latif crime organization cartel affair: the identity of the main suspect is revealed.
“The main generator of crime in the north”: Who is the Abu Latif crime organization? The subject of the proceedings is the action carried out by the prosecutor’s office and the police as part of the enforcement actions against the Abu Latif crime organization, which from its base in the north of the country operates in a criminal manner, among other things through extortion of sponsorship fees, threats, money laundering and more.
According to the suspicion, the economic engine of the organization, which drives the crime, is the money laundering that is carried out with the extortion money, and this is done through currency service providers (“Change”), headed by a service provider from Bnei Brak, “D.I.S. Konto Ltd. “The police issued a closure order against him.
Parallel to the progress of the criminal investigation by the police and accompanied by the economic department of the state attorney’s office, the degree of involvement of the business house and its owners in the money laundering activities of the criminal organization became clear. In order to stifle the business’s activity and stop money laundering, it was decided to issue a closure order signed by the commander of the Bnei Brak station, in the area where the business is located. In an administrative petition that was conducted in the District Court in Tel Aviv, on Saturday as a house for administrative matters. After a long discussion, the petitioner was allowed to announce whether she stood by her petition and after the petitioner withdrew the petition – the petition was dismissed in a ruling and the closure order remained in place.
Until now, the petitioner and owner are an integral part of the method of extortion and money laundering of the proceeds of crime obtained from it, when without the petitioner the extortion and money laundering would not have been possible – certainly not to the extent in question. So the petitioner is in fact the “bank” for the organization and the money launderer, and hence she herself creates a real danger to the public.
On behalf of the state, attorney Adi Avronin and attorney Ariel Ararat from the Tel District Attorney’s Office represented in the proceedings Aviv (civil). The procedure was conducted in cooperation with a team from the Economic Department of the State Attorney’s Office and Economic Enforcement North of Lahav Street 433 of the Israel Police.
The name of the “Abu Latif” organization was associated with extensive criminal activity in the entire northern region of the country. The organization operated in the collection of sponsorship fees, involvement in tenders publics, takeover of businesses, extortion, numerous incidents of violence and shootings and are suspected to be related to brutal murders in recent years. Last month, 21 members of the Abu Latif crime organization were arrested as part of an investigation that uncovered tax evasion of a billion shekels and was nicknamed “The Black Billion”. During the operation, 21 members were arrested the organization, including senior officials, and dozens of luxury vehicles in their possession were seized.
August 27, 2023 Published by The Maariv Online Israel News.
