Eli Hefetz sentenced to 15 years for fraud, forgery

Defendant posed as a financial adviser, economics doctoral student; fraudulently took NIS 29 million from friends and family.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Prison jail generic (photo credit: Courtesy)
Prison jail generic
(photo credit: Courtesy)
The Tel Aviv District Court sentenced Eli Hefetz, convicted of 32 counts of aggravated fraud, theft, and forgery, to 15 years in prison on Thursday. The indictment filed against him reveals that Hefetz stole NIS 29 million from his friends and family while posing as the financial director of an international bank.
In one incident, Hefetz stole nearly NIS three million from his relative, a mother with a paralyzed child, who asked Hefetz to invest her money to ensure her child's future.
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The defendant also falsely presented himself as a doctoral student studying economics, when in fact, "the defendant lacked a college education, was not employed, and did not serve in the army," Army Radio reported. 
The defendant offered 55 people, most of whom were his relatives and close friends, to invest large sums of money through him, falsely promising them that the funds would yield high profits, as he pretended to be a financial advisor, the indictment stated. "The defendant introduced himself to his victims as a broker, drove luxury vehicles, lived in luxury apartments, and bought some of them valuable gifts with funds he fraudulently received from others."
Hefetz's fate rests in his hands, the sentence imposed on him stated: "If he wants to complete only five years in prison, then he must return the full amount of the damage of NIS 15 million before the appeal; or, if he prefers to keep the money in his pocket, he will have to bear the punishment of 15 years in prison, and if he doesn't pay the fine and compensation to his victims, three years will be added to his prison term."


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