Actor Dan Turgeman Sentenced to 10 Months in Prison for Tax Offenses

The Tel Aviv District Court has sentenced actor Dan Turgeman to ten months in prison for tax offenses totaling NIS 3.8 million. This decision partially accepted the state's appeal against a lighter sentence of nine months of community service and a NIS 100,000 fine previously imposed by the Magistrate's Court.

Turgeman, who was involved in real estate development and construction services for artists and intellectuals between 2007 and 2012, either personally or through his company T.D.A. Real Estate, admitted to not reporting income. He confessed to personal income of NIS 700,000 and company income of NIS 2 million from eight clients, which he personally received. Additionally, he failed to report NIS 2 million in rental income from two apartments in Tel Aviv between 2011 and 2018.

In a separate transaction, Turgeman purchased a property in Beit Aryeh, which was registered to an associate, Shulamit Kotler. He sold this property in 2014, reporting it as Kotler's sole tax-exempt asset, thereby evading NIS 140,000 in property taxes.

In total, Turgeman pleaded guilty to 20 counts of serious tax offenses under the Income Tax Ordinance, each carrying a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment, and one count under the Property Tax Law. The state had sought 15 months imprisonment, arguing that the lower court's sentence was too lenient given the severity and duration of the offenses, which spanned 12 years.

The District Court judges noted that while the initial investigation began in 2018, the delay in filing the indictment was due to the complexity of uncovering the offenses. They acknowledged that the passage of time can be a factor but stated it did not justify deviating from the norm of imposing custodial sentences for such crimes. The parties ultimately agreed to the 10-month prison sentence, and the state also agreed to reduce Turgeman's fine to NIS 50,000, considering his personal and economic circumstances.