Israel police is conducting an investigation involving a 43-year-old man who allegedly defrauded tens of contractors out of hundreds of thousands of shekels.

According to police suspicions, the suspect contacted building contractors, offering them an opportunity to take part in attractive government tenders. He offered them to take care of the entire application process to participate in the tender, asking a fee of NIS thousands in advance for his services. He would then vanish with the contractor’s money. The victim would soon learn there was no government tender and he was simply the victim of a fraud.

Police believe this is the pattern of the suspect, who allegedly defrauded dozens of contractors out of NIS hundreds of thousands. The suspect was taken into custody a few days ago in a Herzliya shopping center, on his way to meet with another potential victim.

The suspect has been arraigned and his detention was extended until Thursday. The court has placed a gag order on the details of the case to protect the ongoing investigation.

Police also believe there are additional victims, asking anyone who has been victimized in such a fashion to contact police immediately.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)