An annual report compiled by French police on organized crime in the country lists “French-Israeli crime” as one of the most significant organized crime trends of the year 2018, reports The Times of Israel.
The 250-page internal police report, which The Times of Israel has seen parts of, was published in July by SIRASCO, the branch of the French police charged with collecting data and intelligence on organized crime.
The report lists French-Israeli online scams as one of five significant organized crime trends for the year 2018.
The other four are: the persistence of killings among crime gangs; the spread of narcotics-related organized crime to mid-sized cities; a rise in prostitution in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods; and French police continuing to dismantle cocaine-trafficking networks via French Guinea
In a section entitled “French-Israeli scammers” the report describes dual French-Israeli citizens, most of them in Israel, carrying out internet scams targeting victims in France, and largely going unpunished.
“While not numerous in comparison with other organized crime groups affecting France, the economic damage they cause, whether to European governments (carbon VAT tax) or particular companies (the CEO scam or advertising insert scam) amounts to many billions of euros.”
The report goes on to describe how these alleged criminals are able to live large, hobnob with the rich and famous, and evade justice.
“Functioning on the principle of communal, even familial solidarity, these scammers have not hesitated to interact with major crime figures or to work with Chinese crime networks in Paris. They implemented several lucrative scams in the 2000s that have allowed them to live the high life, frequent poker tables and flaunt their relationships with show business personalities and politicians so as to minimize their chances of getting caught or facing justice.
“Many of these white-collar criminals have themselves been the victims of [violent] extortion or settling of scores (notably Sammy Souied who was murdered in 2010). Others have taken advantage of their French-Israeli dual nationality to choose to live in Israel and thereby evade punishment.”
While the majority of immigrants to Israel from France are law-abiding, the report suggests that a subset of such immigrants are engaged in crime and are using Israel as a safe haven from French justice. If this accusation is accurate, it raises the question of how these individuals were able to enter Israel in the first place, and what kind of vetting procedures the Israeli government puts in place.
Several recent news events corroborate the French police claim that some French immigrants to Israel are evading justice, with some continuing their criminal activities from their new homes.
On September 21st of this year, Vanessa Abittan won the Israeli television cooking competition “Master Chef.” It later emerged that the impeccably dressed, effervescent mother of six was married to a fugitive from French justice. Her husband Eddie Abittan had been convicted in absentia by France for two instances of a fraudulent scheme that together netted over $400 million. The two schemes were part of a larger $1.6 billion scam known as carbon-VAT fraud, carried out in 2008 and 2009, in part from Israel, via the internet. The fraud has been dubbed “the swindle of the century” in France. Abittan was tried and convicted twice, in 2016 and 2017, but never showed up for his trials.