Four ‘Israeli’ football club officials arrested in major fraud investigation

Four officials from an ‘Israeli’ Premier League football club were arrested Sunday on suspicion of systematic fraud, money laundering, tax offenses and related economic crimes spanning four seasons

A joint statement from ‘Israel’ Police, the Tax Authority and the Justice Ministry said the suspects face allegations of obtaining benefits by fraud, false entries in corporate records, forgery, money laundering, and violations of income tax, National Insurance and workers’ pay laws.

Among the core claims is that players’ salaries were not properly reported to the tax authorities.

The scale of the suspected offenses is estimated in the tens of millions of shekels.

The investigation was led by the National Unit for Combating Economic Crime within the police’s Lahav 433 major crimes division, specifically its Sports Bribery and Gambling unit.

It was conducted jointly with the ‘Israel’ Football Association, the Tax Authority’s specialized economic crimes unit, the National Insurance Institute and the Registrar of Non-Profit Organizations.

After months of undercover work, the case moved to the overt phase on Sunday with the arrests and the seizure of luxury vehicles and real estate.

Hebrew media reports identified the suspects as current and former owners and board members linked to Ironi Tiberias FC, which sits near the bottom of the Premier League table.

Official statements have not named the club.

Police said they plan to summon dozens of the team’s current and former players for questioning in the coming days.

Chief Superintendent Yariv Feinberg, head of the Sports Bribery and Gambling unit, stated: “According to the suspicion, the offenses were carried out systematically over a number of years. We will act with determination.”

He added that officers had arrested four central suspects believed to be the main perpetrators and seized luxury cars and real estate belonging to them.

Attorney Adi Carmeli, who represents some of the suspects, criticized the handling of the case: “It is a great shame that before the detainees even reached the Lahav site and had not been told the suspicions against them, the police already rushed to publish everything in the media.”

An unnamed Ironi Tiberias player told Sport 1 that the squad was “not surprised” by the developments and expected to be questioned soon.

Players have discussed among themselves possible effects on salary payments and whether they might need to seek transfers.

Team officials planned to speak with the players later Sunday to keep them focused on matches.

The case is the latest in a series of financial and integrity scandals that have hit ‘Israeli’ football in recent years.