The summary of the entries in the defendant's diary (P/138) also indicates short-term rentals during 2018 (in the case of a diary some of whose pages are missing; the summary relates to rentals between October 12, 2017 and October 18, 2018). There are 23 records of short-term paid rentals in 2018, with the total amounts for one rent ranging from $70 (one night) to $1,680 ($120 for one night, for 14 nights).
Additional rents relating to 2018 – Vika, who rented a unit in a motel starting in July 2017 and during 2018 (in the amount of NIS 4,500 per month, when it is alleged that she sometimes paid NIS 2,500-2,000 per month); a tenant who was arrested (the subject of call No. 1092) who lived in the motel for about a month and a half; according to the defendant's testimony, the Dekels also rented a unit in the motel until March 2018, for several months. These rents did not appear in the list of rents prepared by the defendant (in which no rents from 2018 were recorded at all). This, too, indicates the degree of trust that should be placed in the defendant's words.
- Regarding the year 2017, there are discrepancies between the income reported to the authorities (NIS 33,000) and the one that appears in the rent list (one rent in a motel between January and April – NIS 21,000), and the defendant's testimony in the main interrogation, according to which there was no income in that year and at the end of the year a tenant entered for a long period. Contrary to the defendant's testimony, there is a clear indication of income from short-term rental during the year 2017. In the summary of the entries in the defendant's diary (which relates to the period beginning on October 12, 2017, P/138), there are ten different records of short-term rentals, from October 12, 2017 until the end of 2017 (amounting to approximately ₪5,600). This information clearly contradicts the defendant's testimony, and there is no mention of it in the list of rents that the defendant made.
It should also be said with regard to the summary of the entries in the diary, that no explanation was given, other than the tearing out of pages in the diary, that the entries began in October, in the last quarter of the year. In these circumstances, the defendant's words should not be trusted. As for the long-term lease at the end of 2017, as far as the reference is to the tenant of Vika, this lease (at NIS 4,500 per month) began in July 2017 and not at the end of the year, as the defendant said.
- As for the years 2015 and 2016, for which rental income of NIS 4, NIS 340 and NIS 0 was declared, respectively, the rent list (which is not an exhaustive list, as was the case for the years 2017 and 2018), shows a different picture, of rental income of NIS 66, NIS 023 and NIS 11,600, respectively. The defendant placed the responsibility for a report that was inconsistent with the higher amounts appearing in the rent list on the accountant. This argument, which was raised several times by the two defendants, I will address it below.
- The defendants claimed that a contract was drawn up with each resident of the motel (including short-term tenants). It was also claimed that during the period of the hotel's operation under N.K. Building, tax invoices were also issued, but afterwards, on the advice of the accountant, they did not work with receipts and invoices, but only with contracts. These claims were intended to show that all the income was recorded in an orderly manner, and also to support the claim that all the income was reported, and if it was not reported, then the responsibility for this does not lie with the defendants – but with the accountant Dotan.
These arguments are to be rejected.