A chareidi man apprehended smuggling cigarettes by customs agents at Ben-Gurion Airport is off to prison for three months after the defendant failed to pay the fines levied on him for breaking the law.
Customs agents have begun cracking down on collecting from persons fined after apprehended smuggling prohibited items. This includes Y.Y.G. 27 from Bnei Brak, who was sentenced to three-months imprisonment by the Petach Tikvah Magistrate Court. In 2013 he entered the country via the Green Line and was stopped, found to be smuggling 45 cartons of cigarettes to avoid the NIS 10,000 tax on the load. He was ordered to pay the tax and fined an additional NIS 10,000. He has ignored all payment notices sent to him since, and has now been sent to prison.
Customs officials report they have filed dozens of requests to have persons imprisoned for failing to pay fines, announcing they are cracking down and those who owe money are well advised to pay before they too are imprisoned.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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5 Responses
The irony is that the government has to pay for their upkeep in prison, in addition to not having received the monies from these fellows.
What is the purpose of describing the guy as “chareidi” but not giving his name and only his initials? Sometimes, shaming someone who commits a crime may have great deterrent value. Here, the perp was engaged in ganavah (since his smuggling denies money to the medinah which has to be taken from others to make up the loss in revenue). Also, anyone who facilitates smoking is an accessory to rechitzah since that the inevitable outcome.
One answer to both of you. The purpose of prison is a deterrent, and through this they will be enabled to collect fines from others.
Btw, GH. Did you mean ‘retzicha’?
You seem very knowledgeable in the laws of lashon harah and rechitzah
how much was he smuggling in? a few packs or many cartons?