The Tel Aviv District court convicts Michael Ben-Ari for his role in running a $150 million Ponzi scheme, believed to be the worst such scam ever carried out in the Jewish state.
Under a plea bargain agreement accepted by the court, Ben-Ari will serve between 5 and 9.5 years in prison. The specifics of the sentence will be decided by the court in six months.
Ben-Ari, also known as Michael Greenfield, is an American-Israeli accused of defrauding about a thousand investors in both countries in a 15-year scam. Hebrew media has dubbed Ben-Ari “the Israeli Madoff.”
Under the agreement, Ben-Ari is supposed to cooperate with authorities ahead of the sentencing as they try and recover assets and restore funds to the victims. He will remain in custody during this period.
Israel arrested Ben-Ari in April 2021. But he fled the country on someone else’s passport following his release to house arrest after he posted a NIS 2 million ($625,000) bond. He was later caught in Bosnia and extradited back to Israel.
It's not (only) about you.
Supporting The Times of Israel isn’t a transaction for an online service, like subscribing to Netflix. The ToI Community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions across the world, for free.
Sure, we'll remove all ads from your page and you'll unlock access to some excellent Community-only content. But your support gives you something more profound than that: the pride of joining something that really matters.
Join the Times of Israel Community
Join our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this