Tel Aviv police arrested four suspects overnight Wednesday, three of them members of the same family, on suspicion of running illegal gambling establishments in Bat Yam and Ramat Gan that took in millions of shekels, and seized about half a million shekels in cash.
During the arrests, police found that one suspect who tried to flee was carrying a disability certificate. He allegedly obtained it fraudulently by falsely claiming he had been shot during the October 7 attacks and had his leg amputated.
According to the Israel Police, the Tel Aviv District’s Central Investigations Unit had spent recent months conducting an undercover investigation into suspected operation of illegal gambling premises, money laundering and extortion of a man over gambling debts. Investigators gathered evidence pointing to gambling establishments turning over millions of shekels.
In the overt phase of the operation, detectives raided gambling dens on Yekuel Street in Bat Yam and Bezalel Street in Ramat Gan, together with Yasam officers and the Border Police’s Tel Aviv unit. Four main suspects were arrested, and others involved in running the establishments were detained for questioning.
Police seized dozens of computers, decks of cards and thousands of shekels in cash at the gambling premises. Searches of the main suspects’ homes turned up about half a million shekels in cash, along with jewelry and luxury vehicles allegedly bought with proceeds from the criminal activity.
Investigators also suspect that the group threatened a man and forced him to serve as manager of one of the gambling establishments.
The four suspects, residents of Holon, Bat Yam and Ramle aged between their 20s and 40s, were brought before the Magistrate’s Court on Thursday for a hearing on extending their detention.
The case is part of a broader police crackdown on illegal gambling in recent months. At the end of October, Eilat police exposed an organized gambling scheme on the city’s promenade, in which a group running shell games worked with a strict division of roles and used planted players to lure unsuspecting passersby.
