Israel Police officers and National Insurance (Bituach Leumi) investigators on Tuesday raided the homes and offices of a crime ring defrauding National Insurance funds for years to the tune of tens of millions of shekels.
These suspects allegedly carried out their crime by providing National Insurance with false information and forged documents.
Some of the members of the crime ring worked for an office that claimed to help people file disability claims to National Insurance.
How did the crime ring operate?
The suspects seem to have taken advantage of changes made by the National Insurance worked to ease the process of submitting disability claims, such as no longer requiring children to come before a medical committee but can simply just submit documents from a doctor.
According to law enforcement, a number of applications were submitted for children, many of which were deemed suspicious because, among other things, applications were submitted for multiple children in the same family.
This crime ring operated in central and northern Israel, often by promising families that they could take care of pension payments if they would give up in advance a sum of money that would be given to them by the National Insurance later in the form of a retroactive payment.
Law enforcement officials carried out a covert investigation on the crime ring for several months, in cooperation with undercover officers and with the National Insurance.
So far, the investigation is still very complex and the details are being assessed. However, according to the police and National Insurance, it revealed "a cynical and criminal exploitation of concessions to the public," leading to millions of shekels being stolen by a crime ring instead of going to the families who desperately need them.
"Any attempt at deception like this harms the needy, the disabled and the families who need assistance," National Insurance said. "And it is a criminal, social and moral offense against them all as well."
As part of the raid and arrest of suspects, police also plan to confiscate property and assets that were seized as part of any future possible financial penalties levied against them.