Israeli Debtor Jailed for Third Time Over $2.2 Million Debt
Translated & summarized from N12 by baba
Rafael Rubinshtein, a bankrupt debtor owing 2.2 million shekels, has been ordered to serve two weeks in jail by the Israeli Supreme Court for failing to meet his payment obligations. This is at least his third jail term in 11 years of proceedings, which also include a prior prison sentence in the U.S. The court found his repeated non-compliance and unsubstantiated claims of inability to pay necessitated the jail sentence as the only means to ensure he fulfills his debts.
The story in 6 lines · by baba
- Rafael Rubinshtein will serve two weeks in jail for failing to pay his 2.2 million shekel debt.
- This is Rubinshtein's third jail sentence in 11 years of legal proceedings.
- He previously served ten months in a U.S. federal prison for business-related offenses.
- Rubinshtein lost his Savyon villa due to enforcement proceedings.
- The Supreme Court ruled jail time is the only way to compel Rubinshtein to pay.
- His claims of financial inability to pay were found unsubstantiated by the court.
The Israeli Supreme Court has upheld a two-week jail sentence for bankrupt debtor Rafael Rubinshtein, who will be imprisoned for failing to meet his payment obligations. This marks at least his third jail term within 11 years of legal proceedings related to his debts, which total approximately 2.2 million shekels ($580,000 USD).
Rubinshtein, a 70-year-old dual Israeli-American citizen, previously served ten months in a U.S. federal prison for offenses connected to his real estate marketing business. He also lost a villa in the affluent town of Savyon, where he resided with his family, due to enforcement proceedings. The family was evicted and moved in with his wife's parents.
Over the years, Rubinshtein has been repeatedly ordered to pay monthly installments towards his debt, with amounts varying and often not being met. In 2018, his trustee requested his arrest, citing his failure to provide truthful reports and accumulating a debt of 34,000 shekels, stating there was no other way to ensure his compliance. He was initially sentenced to ten days, a sentence that was later extended and renewed multiple times.
In his ruling, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Ronen stated that Rubinshtein's continued refusal to comply with payment orders, even after agreeing to an increased monthly sum, demonstrated a deliberate avoidance of his responsibilities. She noted that he insisted on linking payments to the approval of a debt settlement proposal, which had not been accepted by creditors. Ronen concluded that imposing jail time was the only effective means to compel him to fulfill his obligations, calling his conduct among the most severe she had encountered in bankruptcy proceedings.
Rubinshtein's latest jail sentence was initially set for ten days starting October 14, but its execution was postponed to October 28 due to his appeal to the Supreme Court. The court found his claims of financial inability to pay the agreed-upon 2,500 shekel monthly sum to be unsubstantiated.
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