International Bank Faces Allegations of Over $1 Million in Customer Fraud

The Haifa District Prosecutor's Office has filed an indictment against a former Bank Leumi employee in Haifa, a resident of Daliyat al-Karmel in her 20s, for allegedly stealing approximately NIS 160,000 from three elderly customers. According to the indictment, during 2022, the employee issued ATM cards without the customers' knowledge, forged their signatures, and withdrew funds from their accounts. In one instance, she allegedly ordered four ATM cards in the name of a 75-year-old client and made 43 withdrawals totaling NIS 143,000, transferring funds from the client's savings to her own checking account to conceal the actions. In another case, she issued a card in the name of a client who had passed away two weeks prior and withdrew NIS 4,000 from his account. Her defense attorney, Avital Ben Non, stated that the defense's response will be submitted to the court after reviewing the investigation materials.

This is the third case of alleged customer fraud to surface at the International Bank Group this year. In January, an indictment was filed against Michal Taito, a veteran banker from the Eilat branch, and her husband. They are accused of exploiting her position to convince 13 clients to transfer over NIS 200,000 to the couple as private loans, sometimes after increasing their bank loans. The bank subsequently reimbursed the affected clients. In July, another case emerged involving Bank Massad, controlled by International Bank. A senior employee at the Umm al-Fahm branch was arrested on suspicion of collecting approximately NIS 800,000 from clients by presenting cash payments as a condition for approving loans. The investigation began following a complaint from the bank itself, which stated it would contact clients for compensation.

Collectively, the three cases exposed during 2026 involve a total sum of about NIS 1.17 million. While these are separate incidents with no evidence of a connection, they raise questions about oversight and control mechanisms, particularly concerning employees with direct access to customer funds. It has not yet been reported if the clients in the current case have had their money returned. A key question remains how dozens of withdrawals from a single account were allegedly possible and whether control procedures at the International Bank Group have been tightened following these previous incidents.