Indictments filed against 3 extortion suspects after dozens nabbed in crackdown

Indictments were filed against three suspects accused of trying to extort money from a businessman by threatening him with violence, then opening fire at his home, the Israel Police said Tuesday.

The charges came a day after police arrested dozens of other suspects in a nationwide sweep against alleged extortion rackets around the country suspected of forcing victims to pay for nonexistent security services in order to prevent threatened damage to their property.

The three suspects, aged 23, 18, and 17, all residents of Nazareth, were charged at the Haifa District Court on Monday.

According to the indictment, the alleged victim is a resident of Kafr Manda in the Lower Galilee region.

The suspects allegedly fired 48 bullets at his home while he was inside with his partner and their three children. Although some bullets penetrated the home, there were no injuries.

Police said in a statement that the gang was arrested last month on suspicion of running a protection racket for a major crime organization. During the arrest of members of the group, there was an exchange of fire with police, and two of the suspects were injured.

The case began in early October, when police received a report about a resident of the north who was being extorted by a stranger who demanded NIS 400,000 ($126,955) in protection money while threatening him with harm if he didn’t pay up.

Shortly after the first demand was made, shots were fired at the man’s home and a gas station he owns. He then received a phone call in which he was told he would now have to pay NIS 1 million ($317,482) or else be shot in the legs and have the gas station be blown up.

Northern police, along with Border Police, opened an investigation, and on October 8, officers waiting in the area of the alleged victim’s home saw shots fired from a vehicle at the premises. Officers engaged the perpetrators and fired at their vehicle, which managed to escape the scene. The car was later located in an open area, and police found an M-16 rifle and other evidence, according to the statement.

Hours later, the suspects were apprehended as they headed to Nazareth and were found to have been injured by police fire at their vehicle. Another man was also arrested on suspicion of participating in the shooting at the victim’s home. Police said that the third suspect was allegedly tasked with ensuring that the shooters had a clear path to and from the victim’s home, but as he also drove away, he crashed into a police patrol vehicle that was blocking their escape route.

On Monday, after the investigation was completed, Haifa state prosecutors filed charges against the three suspects as well as a request that they be held until the end of proceedings, police said.

They were charged with shooting offenses, extortion by threats, transportation of a weapon, reckless driving, and other offenses.

On Monday, police said that dozens of people were arrested in a sweep against other protection rackets.

Some 500 regular and Border Police officers took part in operation Guardians of the Shadow as they raided dozens of locations around the country, arresting 52 suspects.

The operation came after a 10-month undercover investigation in cooperation with the Lahav 433 national crime unit and the State Prosecution Office.

Police said the suspects are believed to have demanded tens of thousands of shekels in protection money amid systematic extortion.

They said criminals compelled numerous contractors to hire their “guard” services, taking in tens of thousands of shekels per site, without providing any actual service.

“In that way, the apparent ‘guard’ service became a system of extortion, in which the elements that offered to protect property were also those who created the threat to it,” the statement said.

All of the suspects were to be brought for a remand hearing at Haifa Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.

Israel Police Commissioner Daniel Levy praised the cooperation between forces in different districts to carry out the arrests.

“A citizen who is required to make payments out of fear that he or his livelihood will be harmed loses the freedom to run his business,” he said in a statement. “Our role is to protect him. It requires determination against the criminal and sensitivity to the victim.”