Mission Impossible

Spyfall: The 007 who never was

Alleged Israeli conman posed as Mossad agent for eight months

By Greg Tepper 31 January 2013, 6:54 pm

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The Mossad Seal reads, "Without wise direction, a people falls; but in the multitudes of councillors, there is safety." (Photo credit: Courtesy Wiki Commons)

A 41-year-old Ra’anana resident was indicted Thursday on fraud charges after allegedly representing himself as a Mossad agent and conning one man and two women out of large sums of money.

The three gave Shai Raz hundreds of thousands of shekels, Ynet reported.

Raz is accused of securing the funds from his male victim, a businessman, by proposing false business opportunities in the US and Canada.

He is also accused of telling his victims he was in contact with high-level members of Israel’s security services, including the head of the Mossad, the head of the Shin Bet internal security service, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

Raz is said to have posed as a member of Israel’s security services from May 2012 through January 2013, according to Israel National News.

The two women also gave Raz large amounts of money. Although he’s married, he is said to have bought a NIS 5,000 ring ($1,354) for one of the women, promising to marry her.