Several high-profile cases have revealed the power and ingenuity of Franco-Israeli crooks. From Israel, they do not hesitate to set up sometimes very sophisticated scams involving billions of euros. The most theatrical was that of the "fake Jean-Yves Le Drian": on the telephone and then by video call, a crook wearing a latex mask with the features of the minister canvassed wealthy personalities to lend money to the state. to release hostages. The two masterminds of the operation were sentenced on Wednesday September 9, 2020 to 7 and 10 years in prison.

Screenshot from the program "Envoyé Spécial" broadcast on France 2 on February 14, 2019, which shows the fake Jean-Yves Le Drian scam. (France 2)

The most lucrative was the carbon tax: by not paying VAT back to France after purchases and resale of carbon quotas, wheeler-dealers pocketed between 1.7 and 4 billion euros depending on the different estimates. The most common and often very effective is that of Fovi (for false international transfer orders): a person pretending to be the CEO of a company asks an accountant to transfer a large sum of money abroad for, supposedly, paying a supplier. What do these scams have in common? They were set up from Israel by Franco-Israeli crooks, some of whom knowingly chose to leave France to settle in Israel and take its nationality.

False investments, insulation at a phony euro, FFP2 masks never delivered...

These crooks are now watched closely by the French authorities. They were even the subject of a specific chapter in the latest report by the National Police's Organized Crime Information, Intelligence and Strategic Analysis Service (Sirasco) published in the summer of 2019. read that these Franco-Israeli crooks "are numerically few in number compared to other groups affecting France. Their economic damage both to European states (the carbon tax scam, for example) and to that of individuals or companies (the Fovi) amounts to several billion euros.

Operating on the principle of community, even family solidarity, they set up juicy scams in the 2000s.

Extract from the report of the Information, Intelligence and Strategic Analysis Service on Organized Crime

By phone, or through fake ads and fake websites, they harpoon individuals or companies in France and show limitless imagination: sale of FFP2 masks or hydroalcoholic gel, fake savings investments with promises of 30% returns and security comparable to that of the Livret A, spectacular stock market transactions, very profitable investments in car parks, diamonds paid for in advance on catalog, investments on Forex (the exchange rate market between currencies), one-euro insulation, purchase of a pseudo "green card" to go live and work legally in the United States... The proposals are exciting but they are all bogus. People pay in advance and find themselves cheated, fooled by the professionalism and assurance of their interlocutors who are very well organized.

Principals and toy soldiers
In 2019, the Empact group launched by the European Union and Europol to respond in a coordinated way to organized crime, held an important meeting in Tel Aviv. European and Israeli police have mentioned, among others, these Franco-Israeli networks. The Israeli police presented these channels in detail. "At the bottom there are the 'soldiers', these are several tens or even hundreds of individuals, describes a French police commissioner, specialist in these files, who attended the debates. These are the 'little hands' organized in small cells installed in conspiratorial apartments. There are telephone lines for those who call in French and computers since geeks create fake sites to give credibility to the scam before quickly removing them from the web. There are also the intermediaries in charge of laundering platforms, they are much better paid... And then there is the top, 20 to 30 individuals. These are big sponsors who may be from the former USSR."

A diversion of the "law of return"

Among these "intermediaries" are a few dozen individuals representing a margin of the Franco-Israeli community. These people, often already delinquents in France, have settled in Israel to take advantage of the "law of return". “It allows any Jew who decides to come and settle in Israel to automatically obtain Israeli nationality,” explains Emmanuelle Elbaz-Phelps, journalist for Israeli public television Kan 11 and author of a documentary on the carbon tax, broadcast in the famous program "Zman Emet". "The wheeler-dealers and thugs quickly realized that this law had a loophole allowing them to come and settle in this country and find refuge there," she continues. A boon for people with bad intentions: this law also allows you to change your first and last name, which slows down legal proceedings.

Among the newcomers to Israel, some are not criminals. But circumstances can push them to become one, because life is not always easy for them. "Israel is a melting pot of Jews from all over the world, explains Emmanuelle Elbaz-Phelps. "We are not all brothers and sisters, contrary to what one might think. You have to get to know each other and when you look more closely into the details, you see a tendency to keep communal ghettos in Israel,” she notes.

"It's hard to find a job and sometimes, after a few months, when you don't have any money, it can create a favorable ground for falling into less honest activities."

Emmanuelle Elbaz-Phelps, journalist for Israeli public television Kan 11
at franceinfo

Call centers are at the heart of scams carried out by telephone or internet. Their "little hands" are often recruited at the exit of the ulpan (Hebrew learning center) or during festive moments. Noémie, a Frenchwoman who has lived in Israel for three years, has been approached several times: "It happened in groups of friends, in a restaurant or during dinners. We see each other, we ask: 'and you, What do you do in life ?' And then we hear ourselves answer: 'I work in a call center, I sell name listings to insulation companies for one euro, do you want to make some money?', he says. I also see advertisements on Facebook: excellent job with a fabulous fixed salary and commissions working seven hours a day... It's just impossible to earn so much with a legal job.

A country that is above all very mobilized against terrorism

In this country historically very mobilized against terrorism, which must also finance the military occupation of part of the West Bank, financial crime is, in fact, a poor relation of justice. The police and justice also suffer from a lack of resources. Nili Arad, former judge at the Supreme Court and president of the Transparency International Israel association, notes this.

Israeli criminal and civil legislation is very precise, but its implementation is not as rigorous due to a lack of budget or lack of manpower.

Nili Arad, president of the association Transparency International Israel
at franceinfo

Investigation unit of Radio France
avatar
Frederic Metezeau. Investigation unit of Radio France.
franceinfo
French Radio
Updated on 09/12/2020 | 14:35
published on 09/11/2020 | 16:10

To share
Twitter
Send
NEWSLETTER NEWS
We prepare it for you every morning
Your email
France Télévisions uses your email address to send you newsletters. To exercise your rights, contact us. To learn more, click here.
Several high-profile cases have revealed the power and ingenuity of Franco-Israeli crooks. From Israel, they do not hesitate to set up sometimes very sophisticated scams involving billions of euros. The most theatrical was that of the "fake Jean-Yves Le Drian": on the telephone and then by video call, a crook wearing a latex mask with the features of the minister canvassed wealthy personalities to lend money to the state. to release hostages. The two masterminds of the operation were sentenced on Wednesday September 9, 2020 to 7 and 10 years in prison.

Screenshot from the program \"Envoyé Spécial\" broadcast on France 2 on February 14, 2019, which shows the fake Jean-Yves Le Drian scam.Screenshot from the program "Envoyé Spécial" broadcast on France 2 on February 14, 2019, which shows the fake Jean-Yves Le Drian scam. (France 2)
The most lucrative was the carbon tax: by not paying VAT back to France after purchases and resale of carbon quotas, wheeler-dealers pocketed between 1.7 and 4 billion euros depending on the different estimates. The most common and often very effective is that of Fovi (for false international transfer orders): a person pretending to be the CEO of a company asks an accountant to transfer a large sum of money abroad for, supposedly, paying a supplier. What do these scams have in common? They were set up from Israel by Franco-Israeli crooks, some of whom knowingly chose to leave France to settle in Israel and take its nationality.

False investments, insulation at a phony euro, FFP2 masks never delivered...
These crooks are now watched closely by the French authorities. They were even the subject of a specific chapter in the latest report by the National Police's Organized Crime Information, Intelligence and Strategic Analysis Service (Sirasco) published in the summer of 2019. read that these Franco-Israeli crooks "are numerically few in number compared to other groups affecting France. Their economic damage both to European states (the carbon tax scam, for example) and to that of individuals or companies (the Fovi) amounts to several billion euros.

Operating on the principle of community, even family solidarity, they set up juicy scams in the 2000s.

Extract from the report of the Information, Intelligence and Strategic Analysis Service on Organized Crime
By phone, or through fake ads and fake websites, they harpoon individuals or companies in France and show limitless imagination: sale of FFP2 masks or hydroalcoholic gel, fake savings investments with promises of 30% returns and security comparable to that of the Livret A, spectacular stock market transactions, very profitable investments in car parks, diamonds paid for in advance on catalog, investments on Forex (the exchange rate market between currencies), one-euro insulation, purchase of a pseudo "green card" to go live and work legally in the United States... The proposals are exciting but they are all bogus. People pay in advance and find themselves cheated, fooled by the professionalism and assurance of their interlocutors who are very well organized.

Principals and toy soldiers
In 2019, the Empact group launched by the European Union and Europol to respond in a coordinated way to organized crime, held an important meeting in Tel Aviv. European and Israeli police have mentioned, among others, these Franco-Israeli networks. The Israeli police presented these channels in detail. "At the bottom there are the 'soldiers', these are several tens or even hundreds of individuals, describes a French police commissioner, specialist in these files, who attended the debates. These are the 'little hands' organized in small cells installed in conspiratorial apartments. There are telephone lines for those who call in French and computers since geeks create fake sites to give credibility to the scam before quickly removing them from the web. There are also the intermediaries in charge of laundering platforms, they are much better paid... And then there is the top, 20 to 30 individuals. These are big sponsors who may be from the former USSR."

Intermediaries recruit straw men paid 2,000 euros to open bank accounts in Eastern Europe (especially in Poland) or in China

French police source
at franceinfo

A diversion of the "law of return"
Among these "intermediaries" are a few dozen individuals representing a margin of the Franco-Israeli community. These people, often already delinquents in France, have settled in Israel to take advantage of the "law of return". “It allows any Jew who decides to come and settle in Israel to automatically obtain Israeli nationality,” explains Emmanuelle Elbaz-Phelps, journalist for Israeli public television Kan 11 and author of a documentary on the carbon tax, broadcast in the famous program "Zman Emet". "The wheeler-dealers and thugs quickly realized that this law had a loophole allowing them to come and settle in this country and find refuge there," she continues. A boon for people with bad intentions: this law also allows you to change your first and last name, which slows down legal proceedings.

The law of return allows any Jew who decides to come and settle in Israel to automatically obtain Israeli nationality. Illustrative photo. The law of return allows any Jew who decides to come and settle in Israel to automatically obtain Israeli nationality. Illustrative photo. (RHKAMEN/MOMENT OPEN/GETTY IMAGES)
Among the newcomers to Israel, some are not criminals. But circumstances can push them to become one, because life is not always easy for them. "Israel is a melting pot of Jews from all over the world, explains Emmanuelle Elbaz-Phelps. "We are not all brothers and sisters, contrary to what one might think. You have to get to know each other and when you look more closely into the details, you see a tendency to keep communal ghettos in Israel,” she notes.

It's hard to find a job and sometimes, after a few months, when you don't have any money, it can create a favorable ground for falling into less honest activities.

Emmanuelle Elbaz-Phelps, journalist for Israeli public television Kan 11
at franceinfo

Call centers are at the heart of scams carried out by telephone or internet. Their "little hands" are often recruited at the exit of the ulpan (Hebrew learning center) or during festive moments. Noémie, a Frenchwoman who has lived in Israel for three years, has been approached several times: "It happened in groups of friends, in a restaurant or during dinners. We see each other, we ask: 'and you, What do you do in life ?' And then we hear ourselves answer: 'I work in a call center, I sell name listings to insulation companies for one euro, do you want to make some money?', he says. I also see advertisements on Facebook: excellent job with a fabulous fixed salary and commissions working seven hours a day... It's just impossible to earn so much with a legal job.

A country that is above all very mobilized against terrorism
In this country historically very mobilized against terrorism, which must also finance the military occupation of part of the West Bank, financial crime is, in fact, a poor relation of justice. The police and justice also suffer from a lack of resources. Nili Arad, former judge at the Supreme Court and president of the Transparency International Israel association, notes this.

Israeli criminal and civil legislation is very precise, but its implementation is not as rigorous due to a lack of budget or lack of manpower.

Nili Arad, president of the association Transparency International Israel
at franceinfo

The judge also denounces an ambient discourse that delegitimizes the guarantors of the rule of law. Since the end of May, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has been on trial for corruption. For years, Netanyahu and his people have waged a merciless war on the media, the police and the magistrates, which has damaged the civic sense of some Israelis. "It concerns me that in Israel the guarantors of the rule of law - the police, the attorney general, the courts, the Supreme Court justices and of course the media - are weakened by the systematic criticism of certain groups who have an interest in it", laments the judge.

Better cooperation between Israel and France

Despite this observation, things are moving forward after many years of very laborious cooperation between the courts of France and Israel. In Paris, the law of March 23, 2019 created the national jurisdiction in charge of the fight against organized crime (Junalco) which depends on the public prosecutor's office of the capital. The most complex cases or those related to a foreign country now go up to it, which acts as a single, visible and centralized window, like the American FBI. In addition, in 2006, France installed a French contact police officer at the French Embassy in Tel Aviv. As soon as a Franco-Israeli file emerges, he is there to ensure that it is followed up.

The entrance to the French Embassy in Israel, located in Tel Aviv, on April 16, 2017. (MICHAEL JACOBS/ART IN ALL OF US / CORBIS NEWS / GETTY IMAGES)

For its part, Israel is a member of the International Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in charge of the fight against money laundering. On the ground, the Israeli police and justice decided to type in the anthill. If it's too difficult to go after the bigwigs, they at least try to dismantle the call centers by closing them for moonlighting. Just as Al Capone fell for tax evasion, some dodgy call centers fall for petty cases.

According to information from the Investigation Unit of Radio France, while France is not proceeding with the extradition of its dual nationals, the extraditions of Franco-Israelis to France will accelerate. Of a dozen French extradition requests, half seem to be on the right track. Gradually, things are moving forward. "Israel is not a paradise and will be less and less so because everyone is making an effort, notes the French police commissioner joined by Radio France's Investigation Unit. The idea is to put an end to impunity for offenders. It's still slow and complex, you have to reckon with judicial time. But there is a real will, and full cooperation with Israel."