Massad bank manager arrested for credit card theft

By REBECCA ANNA STOIL
A Massad Bank manager was among three people arrested Monday under suspicion of turning over customers' credit card information to criminals tied to a prominent Sharon-area organized crime family. Police believe that the suspect, a department manager at the bank's Netanya branch, stole the details of newly-issued credit cards before they were handed over to their owners and activated. The credit cards that were stolen were used to ring up over NIS 100,000 in purchases, including clothing, perfumes and computer equipment. The arrest of the three in the early morning hours came as a direct result of an earlier investigation into a case that was cracked three weeks ago, in which gas station employees believed to be involved with the same crime family allegedly operated special machines used to copy credit card details from gas station customers. Three suspects were arrested in that case as well, and that investigation led police onto the trail of the three arrested Monday. The remands of all the suspects arrested Monday were extended until Thursday in the Kfar Saba Magistrate's Court, but police said that more arrests were expected before the investigation was concluded. In the wake of the arrest, the Massad Bank emphasized that if the allegations against the manager were proven to be true, customers will receive full compensation from the bank.