Netanya Crime Boss Gal Zwartz Charged with Extorting Tel Aviv Mobile Store

The Central District Prosecutor's Office filed an indictment on Sunday against Gal Zwartz, a resident of Netanya, who had been on the run from police for months before surrendering recently. Zwartz faces charges of joint extortion by threats and four counts of money laundering. According to the indictment, Zwartz and three accomplices established an organized extortion scheme through which they took control of a mobile phone store in Tel Aviv. They threatened the store owner using Zwartz's criminal reputation, forcing him to pay hundreds of thousands of shekels, take out loans exceeding one million shekels, and involuntarily make them partners in the business, which they effectively controlled.

The case began when the group demanded the store owner pay 200,000 shekels or give them half the business shares. When he failed to meet the demand, they gradually took over the store by continuous threats, sometimes with Zwartz present. The victim was coerced into taking loans totaling about 1.11 million shekels to buy two luxury cars registered in his name to conceal the real owners. He was also forced to issue fake pay slips for Zwartz and another defendant. Later, the group demanded an additional 800,000 shekels, threatening that if the three defendants went to prison, the victim would be held responsible. They also forced him to pay another 30,000 shekels and transfer company shares to one of the defendants.

The indictment details how the suspects concealed their actions by staying outside the store during the victim's forced transactions, maintaining constant communication, and using documents, tracking reports, phone messages, security footage, and fake pay slips as part of the extortion mechanism. The victim pleaded for relief due to his financial distress, but the extortion continued. In March, indictments were already filed against the other three suspects: Nerial Bagimoff from Kiryat Gat, Yossi Chen from Ramat Gan, and Elad Kambasis from Holon. Zwartz, who had been evading arrest, surrendered only after their indictment. The prosecution requests that all defendants remain in custody until the conclusion of legal proceedings.