| The Economic Department of the Haifa District Court
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| Criminal Case 64242-08-21 State of Israel v. Tal |
| Before the Honorable Judge Muhammad Ali | |
| The accuser: | State of Israel |
| Adv. H. Kula
From the District Attorney’s Office, Civil Case (Taxation and Economics) |
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– Against –
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| The Defendant: | Assaf Tal |
Verdict
- Summary of the charges
- The indictment filed against the defendant includes a number of charges relating to activity in an Australian trading arena called Pepperstone (hereinafter: Pepperstone) in which the defendant was involved, which revolved around contracts for difference on underlying assets, especially gold. The defendant offered computerized trading services based on a "robot" that includes an algorithm for selecting investments in the said trading arena, and as a result, a number of customers approached him to receive the services. During the contact with the clients, the defendant presented them with false representations, directed them to trade in Pepperstone, which is an arena that is not authorized to operate in Israel, and managed the investments - all without having a license to engage in investment management.
- In the indictment, which includes three charges, the defendant was charged with offenses of fraudulent receipt (multiple offenses), under Section 415 of the Penal Law, 5737-1977 (hereinafter: the Penal Law), as well as offenses under the Representation Arrangement and Investment Advice Law, Investment Marketing and Investment Portfolio Management, 5755-1995 (hereinafter: the Consultation Law) and offenses against the Securities Law, 5725-1968 (hereinafter: the Securities and Exchange Law).
- Details of the indictment
- According to what is described in the preliminary general part of the indictment, the defendant is an electronics engineer by education and was fired from his job after the relevant period in the indictment. It was claimed that during 2019 (hereinafter: the relevant period), the defendant approached many potential customers and offered them a computerized trading service based on a robot that includes an algorithm for selecting investments (hereinafter: the robotic trading), which was carried out in the Australian trading arena - Pepperstone, and focused on the CFD on a variety of underlying assets, especially gold. According to the claim, during the relevant period, the defendant traded in a contract for difference in the Pepperstone merchant arena for at least 35 customers. The defendant's remuneration mechanism was based on a payment he collected from customers for the installation of the robotic trading system, on a remuneration he received from Pepperstone for each customer who opened a trading account through him, and on a success fee paid in accordance with the goals he set.
The general section included reference to a number of terms and definitions as follows: