Israeli prosecutors on Tuesday filed an indictment in the Petah Tikva Magistrate’s Court against 31-year-old Oleg Pogosyan of Bat Yam, saying he was part of an organized fraud ring known as the “Russian scam.” The ring allegedly targeted Russian-speaking elderly people across Israel in a systematic scheme that exploited vulnerable seniors to steal cash and gold jewelry. The indictment was filed by attorney Yehonatan Ailon Hirsch of the Central District Prosecutor’s Office.
According to the charge sheet, between February and May 2026 the suspects called seniors and falsely posed as representatives of the National Insurance Institute, the Tax Authority, banks and other official bodies. After winning their trust, they instructed victims to gather cash, jewelry and other valuables and hand them over to a courier. In some cases, callers falsely claimed that money and gold had to be insured, including because of an Iranian missile strike on a home in Arad or due to a supposed new law.
Prosecutors say Pogosyan or someone acting for him then went to the victims’ homes, including assisted-living facilities, and collected the property. He allegedly used different names, including “David,” “Dovid” and “Mark,” and at times pretended not to speak Russian to make it harder for victims to realize it was a scam. The indictment describes several incidents, including 70,000 shekels taken from an 88-year-old woman in Petah Tikva, about 4,000 shekels from a 91-year-old woman in Bat Yam, 20,000 shekels from an 81-year-old woman in Lod, and 82,000 shekels plus jewelry and credit cards from a 79-year-old woman in Ariel.
The indictment includes 12 counts, among them conspiracy to commit a crime, aggravated fraud, impersonation, receiving stolen property, theft, payment-services offenses and obstruction of justice. Prosecutors also allege that Pogosyan helped convert part of the loot by finding a gold dealer and selling jewelry worth about half a million shekels. Across the listed incidents, the alleged victims lost roughly 200,000 shekels in cash, along with gold jewelry, diamonds, watches and other valuables. In a separate count, prosecutors say Pogosyan stole his father-in-law’s credit card between January and February 2026 and withdrew 7,800 shekels, then accompanied him to police in an attempt to obstruct the investigation. The state is seeking to keep him in custody until the end of proceedings, citing his alleged admissions, witness statements, phone and location data, surveillance footage and other evidence.
