The swindler selling apartments that are not his, and fleecing people of millions

Oshri Bezalel Azoulay defrauded victims out of millions of shekels. According to testimonies, he took apartments from his victims and forged documents. An investigation by “The Swindlers” exposes his methods

Adva Dadon, main edition Published: 11.06.26, 09:05

In brief: Oshri Bezalel Azoulay defrauded victims out of millions of shekels. Azoulay swindled elderly people and people in distress by selling apartments that were not his. Miriam from Afula lost her home and her car because of Azoulay’s actions. Yehuda, the owner of a lot in Netanya, says Azoulay forged ownership documents. Malka from Tirat Carmel: “He simply stole my apartment and ruined my life.” A News 12 investigative reporter documented Azoulay offering properties that were not his.

Oshri Bezalel Azoulay is a baal teshuva who tends to walk around in a Haredi appearance when the spirit moves him. He is married and the father of six children, and one of the biggest swindlers to have operated here. In total, he defrauded people out of millions of shekels by repeatedly selling apartments that were not his at all. Despite countless complaints filed against him with the police, he continues to harm even people in distress, the poor and the elderly. For years he has worn down his victims in court, while they continue to sink deeper into poverty, and even when money is awarded in their favor, there is no one to enforce it. Now his victims have gathered the courage to speak and helped us reach him and expose him, in order to prevent the next victims and hope that justice will be done.

Miriam, 64, from Afula, appears modestly with her son Avial. In addition, she has a child with special needs. She is one of Oshri Azoulay’s victims. Her son Avial described how it all began: “I went through a divorce process and needed help, and he was there. He offered cars, offered lawyers. Everything for free.” Miriam added: “We thought an angel had come down from heaven. Exactly like that.”

After he bonded with them and gained their trust, Azoulay offered them a deal too good to refuse. According to him, he was building a luxury project in Netanya with an accessible garden apartment, which he would give Miriam in exchange for her home in Afula, a Netanya apartment worth much more. Miriam testified: “He showed us plans, showed us building permits. He kept calling me and saying, ‘Come sign this for me, come sign this for me.’ He took me to Netanya and said, ‘Here is the plan, the house will be yours.’” Azoulay lured Miriam out of her home and, in return, put her up in a hotel. She could not refuse.

Miriam found herself losing her home and all her property for a dream Azoulay sold her. But no bulldozer ever went onto the land. The lot is not his at all.

Yehuda, an engineer at a defense company, is the owner of the lot in Netanya and the grandmother’s house built on it, the very lot on which Oshri was supposedly going to build and in which Miriam was supposedly going to live. Yehuda said: “Oshri introduced himself as a contractor. He offered me an amount a little above market price, on condition that he would give me half, and after a year he would give me the other half, until he started receiving money from potential buyers who would purchase the apartments he would build from him. He paid a total of 2 million and 430 thousand, but not even from his own money, only from bank money. From his own money he paid only 50 thousand shekels.”

Today, Yehuda’s house and the lot around it are registered in Azoulay’s name. According to Yehuda, he did this by forging documents.

Oshri Azoulay did not waste time, and in the meantime rushed to sell Miriam’s apartment in Afula. Azoulay stops at nothing when he spots an opportunity to scam. He saw that the car Miriam had bought for a few thousand shekels through Azoulay’s mediation, he stole by fraud without permission using the spare key he kept. The same car she used to drive to visit her daughter with special needs.

Miriam said: “One morning I came and didn’t see the car. I get here by bus, sometimes four buses. What does she have in life? That car really made her happy.”

Malka, a 58-year-old grandmother from Tirat Carmel, makes a meager living as an education assistant in an elementary school. After a difficult event in her life, she too never imagined she would lose about one million shekels over an apartment Azoulay sold her, which was not his at all. Malka said: “He simply stole my apartment. I started asking what was going on. He started doing all kinds of things. He paid some first installment, and then he פשוט didn’t pay the rest.”

Malka filed a complaint with the police. She said through tears outside the police station: “A tall guy, wearing peyot, and he ruined my life. I don’t remember when I last smiled. I have no life. I have a sick daughter at home. I have a grandson in Lebanon. I have a grandson who had his bar mitzvah earlier this month. I didn’t have a single shekel to give him a present.”

We sent our investigator to meet Azoulay under cover. She told him she had received a large inheritance and was looking for an investment. He also offered us Yehuda’s property and land in Netanya, which, as noted, are not his at all. He did not complete payment to the owner, and he is at the center of a legal proceeding.

When we came to confront Oshri Azoulay, he surrounded himself with several men, who tried to protect him, and eventually fled on one of their motorcycles.

Oshri Bezalel Azoulay’s response through his attorney, Guy Bar: “This is an article ordered by parties with whom I am in a legal dispute, in an attempt to influence the outcome of those proceedings contrary to law. As for the allegations themselves: I purchased the apartments in Netanya, Haifa and Afula and sold them lawfully. I paid the full consideration for them in accordance with the agreements I signed. Regarding the elderly man I allegedly swindled, the claims by his daughter are completely denied. In fact, her father owes me money. His checks, in amounts totaling hundreds of thousands of shekels, bounced for lack of coverage. The documents proving everything were sent to the ‘The Swindlers’ newsroom. As for the claims about my financial situation, it should be clarified that recently I went through a difficult period financially and got into debt, but at no stage did I evade paying my debts, and I will repay them in accordance with the recovery of my ability to do so.”

Response from the Land Registration and Settlement of Rights Authority at the Ministry of Justice: “In the absence of a specific suspicion of forgery or fraud, and in light of isolated acts of forgery compared with tens of thousands of registration actions each year, we are not required to directly verify with property owners or the lawyers who sign applications for registration of ownership and removal of cautionary notices. However, we are constantly working to reduce acts of forgery, fraud and false registrations in the land registry. When a suspicion arises that a lawyer is himself involved in fraud, the matter is investigated, and that is what was done in the case you exposed and that we had not known about until now.”

Response from the Israel Police: “While legal proceedings involving the subject of your inquiry are taking place in several courts, we continue to investigate the complaints filed against him, with the aim of getting to the truth.”

Response from the Israel Tax Authority: “When information comes to the Tax Authority indicating suspicion of tax offenses, that information is thoroughly examined and, if necessary, an investigation is opened. Due to the duty of confidentiality under tax laws, and for intelligence and investigative reasons, the Tax Authority does not comment on specific investigations or information checks it conducts.”

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