Beersheba man gets over 10 years for wartime fraud targeting suppliers

Rishon LeZion Magistrate’s Court in Ramla sentenced 54-year-old Haim Avitan of Beersheba to 10 years and three months in prison for a fraud scheme worth about 3 million shekels. The court said he took advantage of people displaced by the Iron Swords war, exploiting the crisis for profit.

According to the ruling, Avitan posed as the owner of a hotel in Herzliya that was supposedly housing evacuees. Using that false identity, he won the trust of dozens of suppliers and ordered goods from them under the claim that the merchandise was intended for displaced families.

In addition to the prison term, the court ordered Avitan to pay about 1.5 million shekels in compensation to the victims. The judges wrote that he had, quote, “in a vile manner exploited the kindness of the victims, who wanted to do everything they could to help the war evacuees.”