Ten Indicted in NIS 10 Million Migdal HaEmek Extortion and Gambling Case

Northern District prosecutors indicted ten people after a 40-day investigation into an alleged extortion, illegal-gambling and money-laundering operation in Migdal HaEmek and northern Israel. The indictment says the central defendant, an inmate imprisoned since 2020, directed the network through a prison public telephone. Prosecutors allege the group ran betting lines, a gambling apartment and a website, issued loans at annual interest rates of up to 120 percent, and used threats and violence to collect debts. The alleged proceeds exceeded NIS 10 million and were laundered through straw bank accounts, concealed cash and cryptocurrency; prosecutors requested the detention of seven defendants through trial.