Haredi Businessman Dudi Apple Detained in Multi-Million Shekel Asset Concealment Probe

Dudi Apple, a Haredi businessman previously convicted of bribery, was detained earlier this week by Israel's Lahav 433 unit on suspicion of concealing real estate assets worth tens of millions of shekels during bankruptcy proceedings. Apple, who has been undergoing bankruptcy since 2012, allegedly hid ownership of various properties and transferred assets to avoid disclosure requirements. Alongside Apple, three others were detained: former Likud MK and president of the Likud Appeals Court, attorney Michael Kleiner, and businessmen brothers Yaffa and Yitzhak Dayan. Police suspect Kleiner assisted Apple in hiding assets, while the Dayan brothers are believed to have collaborated with him during this period.

The investigation is being conducted by Lahav 433's National Economic Crime Unit and the National Unit for Bankruptcy and Economic Rehabilitation at the Justice Ministry. Authorities say the suspects used sophisticated and systematic methods to conceal their holdings and illicitly profit from them. Following the arrests, significant property was seized to be potentially confiscated later in legal proceedings.

Apple was convicted in 2010 for three bribery offenses related to advancing his construction businesses and served three and a half years in prison with a one million shekel fine. Upon leaving the interrogation, Apple harshly criticized the authorities, calling them "thieves, fraudsters, criminals" and vowed to continue fighting them. His lawyer, Efraim Damari, stated the case is old, already investigated about 14 years ago, and questioned why enforcement agencies are revisiting it now.

The Dayan brothers' attorneys, Uri Korav and Sivan Russo, defended their clients as law-abiding businessmen and noted the investigation concerns events over a decade old with no evidence indicating wrongdoing. The probe remains ongoing as authorities seek to clarify the full extent of the alleged asset concealment and related offenses.