The Protected Value and the Extent of its Harm
- The defendant committed many fraudulent and forgery offenses and violated the protected values of protecting the right to property and a normal commercial life, the authenticity of documents, fairness in general, and the freedom of choice of a person who was deprived of his free will as a result of the fraud. In the context of the offense of fraud, it was held in Criminal Appeal 2333/07 Ta'anach v. State of Israel (July 12, 2010) that:
"The social value that the offense of fraud seeks to protect is the freedom of decision, action, and choice of the fraudster, who was deprived of it as a result of the act of fraud... The violation of the deceitful person's freedom of will means that if all the facts were revealed to him, he might have acted differently than he did."
- In his actions, the defendant deceived the complainants, severely damaged their property, took their money and saw his own best interests against the background of greed for money. In addition, the defendant violated the public's trust in the state authorities, including the Registry of Rights, which is managed by the state and under the supervision of its various authorities. The defendant made use of forged documents and misled the authorities, thereby undermining the great importance of maintaining and protecting the integrity and reliability of the registry and the public's trust in it as a reflection of the legal situation in its entirety. By his actions, the defendant also harmed the public's trust in the rules of government and law and the legal public, the reputation and good name of the profession. In this context, it was ruled that:
"The legal profession requires those who practice it to act with cleanliness, fairness, loyalty and dedication. These are not only virtues that the lawyer will break for him, and not only moral and ethical duties that he is obligated to, but also duties imposed on him by virtue of the law... Cleanliness, fairness, loyalty and dedication are essential personal skills for those who have chosen to practice the legal profession. Without these, not only is he not permitted to practice his profession, but he is not qualified to do so; Like a surgeon who, due to some physical impairment, cannot hold the surgical instruments in his hands" (Israel Bar Association Appeal 1746/98 State of Israel v. Adv. Zion Mazor (December 14, 1998)).
- With regard to the offenses committed by the defendant under the Income Tax Ordinance, his actions violated the protected values of maintaining the proper conduct of the tax authorities, the failure to report lawfully to the tax authorities regarding income leads to damage to the tax system, and its ability to collect real tax from any dealer. In addition, damage was caused to the state treasury and to the public as a whole (damage to the pockets of every citizen) due to the violation of the general equality in bearing the tax burden.
- In the circumstances of the case, taking into account the severity of the offenses, their multiplicity and the circumstances of their commission, I determine that the degree of harm to protected values is high.
The circumstances related to the commission of the offense
- As to the circumstances of the commission of the offenses, I will give my opinion on their severity, their multiplicity, their frequency and the length of time in which they were committed, as well as the planning, methodology and great audacity that accompanied the defendant's actions. The planning that preceded his actions attests to malicious intent, when he acted cunningly, deceitfully, and sophisticatedly. The two amended indictments, which together consist of seventeen incidents - against many complainants and various real estate - show the seriousness of his actions, when he abused his status as a lawyer and the fact that he was a "member of the household" in the authorities, as defined by the accusing attorney, in view of his field of practice, in order to carry out his plot and deceive his clients and the state authorities.
- The defendant committed systematic, sophisticated fraudulent offenses on a considerable scale, which required various actions on his part, mainly forgery of documents for the purpose of transferring ownership of the land. The defendant made many false representations to various customers, deceiving them and receiving money from them. His actions were characterized by great boldness, while the defendant was not afraid, and he repeated the acts of fraud again and again (even after he was prohibited from practicing the profession). Methodically, locates real estate in the desired area, while not skipping over deceased landowners and those who live abroad and are in a nursing state. As a knowledgeable lawyer in the field of real estate, he deceived many complainants, who believed his false representations, sold them real estate, without the knowledge and consent of their owners, forged documents, signatures and stamps for this purpose, presented them to the authorities and pocketed the money he received from them, leaving them in a broken trough. The defendant took advantage of the innocence of the complainants, some of whom he knew and some of whom relied on him to be a lawyer, did not feel sorry for them and did not take into account the fact that some of them entrusted him with the labor of their lives, who put their money in his pocket, and passed on to the next victim.
- The defendant's actions were carried out for many years (between the years 2008-2024) and this is not an isolated incident or a momentary or one-time stumble. Not only that, even while the main case was being conducted against him and he was prohibited from practicing law, the defendant continued to commit his acts, and as a result, the offenses he committed in the framework of the attached indictment were committed under more aggravated circumstances.
- The defendant is the perpetrator of the offenses, as he is a lawyer who abused his profession, the knowledge he acquired and his familiarity with the authorities, and was the dominant factor in the criminal case. The defendant forged documents and signatures and submitted false declarations to the state authorities and the institutions in charge of registering the rights, with the aim of stealing the victims' lands and obtaining a small profit and assets that were not his own. In his actions, he demonstrated contempt and disrespect for innocent citizens and their property, without any fear or fear of the rule of law and the state authorities, and all of the above was done out of greed for money.
- This is a learned defendant, a former lawyer, who understood very well the evil of his exploits. The defendant had the ability at any time to refrain from committing the offenses, he had full control over their execution, but despite this, he repeatedly committed the offenses, time after time, over a long period of time, against various victims, even after he was prohibited from practicing law.
- I will also give my opinion on the damage caused to the complainants, which is not only economic damage that can be estimated in money, but also emotional damage, including mental anguish and future bureaucracy, including future expenses involved in restoring the land registration in the owner's name and/or canceling the warning note. By his actions, he also undermined the public's confidence in the legal profession and severely damaged the dignity of the profession and its good name. It also caused damage to the public's trust in government institutions, in the relationship of trust between lawyer and client, and in commercial life.
- Moreover, most of the damages have not been repaired, the defendant has not yet returned all the funds he received fraudulently to the victims of the offense, and all the documents and transactions that were signed have not yet been canceled, while in some of the lands the ownership was transferred and in others warning notes were recorded. It is not superfluous to add that the defendant fraudulently received not only money but also real estate. I accept the argument of the accuser's counsel that the defendant received the sum of ILS 1,411,000, as appears from the fraudulent sums, to which the defendant confessed in the framework of the two indictments in the main and attached file. Therefore, the argument of the defendant's counsel as to the said sum has nothing to rely on. Not only that, the defendant also did not remove the omissions to the tax authorities.
- As to the damage caused, I will give my opinion to the affidavits submitted on behalf of some of the victims of the offense and to the testimony of some of them before me, as will be brought below:
- Ze'ev Beckman - the victim of the offense that is the subject of the first indictment in the main case. An affidavit was filed in his case, marked H/10. Ze'ev shared that he purchased the land that is the subject of the indictment in 1972. Throughout the years, he made sure to pay all the taxes required for him. In 2014, his son immigrated to Israel, and in 2016 he discovered that the land had been stolen from him. He claimed that he waged an ongoing struggle, including with lawyers and the Israel Police, to get his ownership of the land restored to him. This process caused him heavy financial expenses. He was forced to come to Israel a large number of times, to meet with lawyers and policemen, to travel from Tel Aviv to Haifa, and all the expenses involved were taken out of his own money.
Today he is 80 years old and when the process began he was 70 years old. According to him, the affair caused him a lot of emotional tension, he is a heart patient. Flights from South America to Israel make it difficult for him from a health point of view. He suffered a great deal of emotional and financial damage. He also noted that he loves Israel and purchased this land with a clear goal and never sold it. He intends to bequeath it to his son in order to preserve part of the Holy Land for his family. He asked for compensation for the damages he suffered.