Israel Police detectives and Israel Tax Authority investigators this morning arrested 20 people on suspicion of tax evasion amounting to tens of millions of shekels. Investigators believe they used the well-known method of buying fuel in the Palestinian Authority and selling it in Israel, using counterfeit invoices.
The suspects were detained in raids carried out by 260 detectives from the Police National Economic Crimes Unit and other units, and by 80 investigators from the Tax Authority Customs and VAT investigations division in Tel Aviv, following an undercover inquiry lasting more than a year. Searches were carried out at 40 homes across Israel, where investigators seized substantial a quantity of documents, accounting paperwork and computers.
Police say the inquiry is a follow-on to the "Black Gold" affair which was uncovered by the Economic Crimes Unit and Tax Authority in July 2005. The inquiry led to the arrest of members of a crime family from central Israel, who were suspected of stealing, adulterating and selling fuel, using violence against other players in the fuel market, and committing tax evasion amounting to hundreds of millions of shekels.
The latest inquiry, codenamed "White Wine", developed following the accumulation of information which indicated that the suspects in the previous inquiry were involved in further criminal activity, including tax evasion costing the economy tens of millions of shekels.
Police say more arrests will be made in connection with the latest inquiry. Some of the suspects detained this morning will appear in the Ramla Magistrates Court for a remand hearing later today.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 23, 2008
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