According to the accuser, the circumstances of the commission of the offenses in our case are particularly serious, since the defendants teamed up with others and planned the fraudulent acts over the years. As the indictment shows, the defendants acted with great sophistication, anonymity and money laundering with the help of straw men. It was also claimed that the potential for damage was enormous, with the defendants earning hundreds of thousands of shekels for the acts. It was emphasized that we are dealing with a case that has unique characteristics and enormous scope.
As for the protected values, it was argued that in committing the fraudulent offenses, the defendants severely harmed the integrity of the exams, public order, the principle of equality, and the public's trust in the education system. The defendants also harmed the education of the youth and the values of morality and integrity, as they provided fraudulent services to minors and school students.
It was also claimed that in committing the economic offenses, tax offenses and the money laundering offense, the defendants harmed the general public and the public coffers.
With regard to the sentencing policy, it was argued that as a rule, in "white-collar" offenses, as in our case, these are sophisticated offenders, who generally look like any ordinary person and have no criminal record. For this reason, the case law determined that in offenses such as this, deterrence considerations will be given priority over other considerations. It was also argued that there was a need to match the value of the fraud over the length of the sentence behind bars and the amount of the fine.
It was clarified that the amended indictment explicitly states that the defendants conspired with other conspirators. In response to the court's question, the accuser's counsel replied that the punishment compound to which she petitioned perfects the fact that the defendants acted together with other conspirators, and that if they had acted alone, he would have petitioned for a higher punishment range. In addition, the accuser emphasized that although the indictment was filed only against the defendants, this is not selective enforcement as the defense claims, since the identity of the other conspirators is unknown.