State Prosecutors Charge Suspect in Russian-Speaking Elder Scam Network
Israeli state prosecutors have filed an indictment against 31-year-old Oleg Pogosyan of Bat Yam, accusing him of being part of the organized fraud ring known as the "Russian scam," which has systematically targeted Russian-speaking elderly people across Israel.
According to the indictment, members of the network phoned seniors while pretending to be officials from the National Insurance Institute, the Tax Authority, banks, and other public bodies. After winning their trust, they instructed victims to gather cash, jewelry, and other valuables and hand them over to a supposed representative under various pretexts. In one case, an elderly woman was told that, after an Iranian missile hit a house in Arad, she should insure the cash and gold kept at home. After a conference call with another person posing as a tax official, she was told a courier would come to take the property, insure it, and return it later. In another case, a woman was told by someone posing as a National Insurance official that a new law required insurance for money and property kept at home, and that the insurance would be carried out physically.
Prosecutors say Pogosyan, or someone acting on his behalf, then went to the victims’ homes, including assisted-living facilities, and collected the money and valuables. In some cases, he disguised himself as a non-Russian speaker to make it harder for victims to communicate and realize they were being deceived. He is also accused of helping turn the stolen goods into cash by locating a gold buyer, checking prices and sales terms in advance, and selling gold obtained from the victims. The indictment says gold worth about 500,000 shekels was sold this way, along with tens of thousands of shekels in cash.
The 12-count indictment, filed by attorney Yonatan Eilon-Hirsh of the Central District Prosecutor’s Office, describes a sophisticated, organized and systematic operation that deliberately exploited elderly and vulnerable people. Prosecutors asked the court to keep Pogosyan in custody until the end of the proceedings. He has not been convicted, and the presumption of innocence applies.
