Charges include blackmail, heading criminal group; 24 others also charged.
By JPOST.COM STAFFassiabutbul88(photo credit: )
Underworld figure Asi Abutbul was indicted in the Tel Aviv District Court on Friday morning, along with 24 others, on charges that included blackmail, money laundering and belonging to an organized crime body.
According to the indictment sheet, Abutbul's organization blackmailed both local and French businessmen, as well as Israeli contractors. The sheet detailed the activities of the organization, including an instance in which one businessman who owed Abutbul nearly $1 million was taken to the 17th floor of a French hotel and asked if he wanted to "see the view from up close.
One of Abutbul's lawyers, David Yiftah, said Friday morning that the country's courts couldn't deal with such a broad-ranging indictment sheet, which included 18 different offenses.
"This is an indictment that was submitted so the press would hear that Asi Abutbul was indicted," Army Radio quoted Yiftah as saying.
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