Criminal lawyer indicted for extortion by threats
The State Prosecutor's Office filed an indictment against a 52-year-old criminal lawyer for extortion by threats, after he sent two men to the home of a friend who had not repaid loans, in order to intimidate him. The lawyer was arrested on July 25, and the prosecution is seeking his detention until the end of proceedings.
The State Prosecutor's Office today (Sunday) filed an indictment with the Rishon Lezion Magistrate's Court against a 52-year-old criminal lawyer, charging him with the offense of extortion by threats. According to the indictment, after a man who was his friend and even represented by him did not repay loans of tens of thousands of shekels, the lawyer threatened him and sent two men to his home to intimidate him and bring about the return of the money. Following the events, the complainant filed a complaint with the police, and on July 25 the lawyer was arrested at the end of an investigation by officers of the Kiryat Malakhi station. Between the two, there were friendly relations, and during 2025 the lawyer lent the complainant about 50,000 shekels in cash. About 30,000 shekels of that amount were returned. In parallel, Yaniv, a relative of the defendant and a friend of the complainant, lent him between February and March 2026 about 10,000 shekels, and about two weeks later another 10,000 shekels. According to the indictment, the complainant did not return anything to Yaniv. On July 12, at around 13:06, the defendant sent the complainant WhatsApp messages containing explicit threats. About 35 minutes later, the complainant himself sent threatening messages to Yaniv, including a threat to come to his home. Nine days later, on July 21, the lawyer approached two men and asked them to come to the complainant's home. The two arrived, knocked on the door, and the complainant, who was at home with his 9-year-old son, was afraid to open. They left after a few minutes. The prosecution is seeking to detain the lawyer until the end of proceedings, citing dangerousness and fear of obstruction of justice. The lawyer admitted in his investigation that he sent the messages and the men, but initially claimed that their purpose was to check the complainant's mental state. The prosecution emphasized that he is a criminal lawyer by profession, which aggravates the severity of the acts.