The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by three associates of alleged
mobster brothers Meir and Yitzhak Abergil, clearing the way for their
extradition to the United States.
The Abergils and the three associates –
Sasson Barashi, Moshe Malul and Yisrael Ozipa – are wanted in the US under the
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) for a range of
criminal activities, including murder, money laundering, blackmail and drug
charges.
The court ruled that it had no grounds to overturn a ruling by
the Jerusalem District Court in July 2009 to approve the state’s request to
extradite them to the US. The Abergils were arrested in August 2008 on a warrant
issued by US authorities.
The US has given Israel its word that if the
five are found guilty, they will not receive the death penalty.
Among
other things, the Abergil brothers are alleged to have conspired with Malul to
arrange the murder of a drug dealer in Los Angeles named Sammy Atias. The
Abergils are also suspected of extorting money from businessmen Hai and Asi
Vaknin in a money-laundering scheme involving hundreds of thousands of dollars
embezzled from a bank.
Malul is suspected of smuggling ecstasy pills into
the US, and then seeking Yitzhak Abergil’s permission to kill Atias for
apparently stealing a large amount of the drugs from him.
Yoram Sheftel
and Avigdor Feldman, attorneys for the Abergil brothers, said they doubted there
was enough evidence for their clients to be indicted in the US.