The Defendant
Main Investigation (Transcript of January 23, 2023)
- The hotel: The defendants began renting out units in the building in December 2014. The building includes five housing units: a large unit where the defendant's parents lived and four other smaller units, including a room, kitchenette, toilet and shower (pp. 518-519). The defendants managed to rent out two units for a short term. According to the instructions of an accountant, they issued invoices against the tenants' payment (p. 519). Two units remained empty – one of them, located in the basement, was used by the defendant's daughter and her husband (p. 519), and the other was used by many relatives who came to stay (p. 520). In addition to the short-term rentals, another unit was rented for long periods for NIS 4,500 per month (p. 523).
In 2015, there were three rentals in one unit (p. 523).
- When his daughter graduated, she moved out of the unit, and on July 11, 2017, the tenants Vika Zbirov (hereinafter: "Vika") and her son moved into the same unit. A contract was drawn up in the matter (p. 525). In one of the vacant units, a relative from Russia lived at no charge (p. 525).
- Two or three units in the building were used by the "Chance for Life" association (hereinafter: "the association" and the "Opportunity for Life Association"), in which children came to Israel for a period of about a month or a month and a half to receive chemotherapy treatment (p. 522).
- In 2016, the rental income was approximately NIS 8,000 (p. 526). In 2016, only one unit was rented for a fee, by two women (p. 526). One unit was used by the parents, the basement unit was used by the daughter, and three other units were used for the children's residence. As soon as a unit became vacant, they made sure to bring someone in to cover the expenses (p. 526). The defendant later noted that two units were used by the association on a regular basis, and sometimes three (p. 527).
The defendant has two lists, of those who paid rent and those who lived in the villa without pay. To the claim that in 2016 zero rental income was reported, the defendant replied that the matter should be clarified with the accountant (p. 527).
- In 2017, the accountant reported zero income (p. 527). The motel was used by the association, and at the end of the year a tenant entered for a long period of time (p. 527).
- The defendant did everything through the defendant's accountant (CPA Menachem Dotan – M.B.), who submitted reports (p. 528). The defendant came to the accountant at the end of each month with the invoices and contracts, and gave him a true report (p. 522).
- The apartment in Pardes Hanna: The property was transferred to the defendant's ownership on August 3, 2017, when his mother moved there. Previously, the apartment was owned by his ex-wife, and their joint daughter benefited from his rental money. The defendant signed the lease, but he did not benefit from the rent, since the agreement with his ex-wife was that their daughter would benefit from the money (p. 524). The income was not reported because he did not own the property (p. 524).
- The cash deposits into the account: The defendant's testimony in this matter was given in the course of the investigation regarding Charge 16, but it is also relevant to Charge 15.
With regard to the cash deposits made in the defendants' accounts in 2017, the defendant explained that there were a number of economic events during that year. In one of them, a relative from Georgia sold the defendant's mother's apartment and brought the proceeds with him (p. 533). This person lived with the mother for many years and eventually sold the apartment, many years ago. The defendant had no possibility of transferring the money, and that person used to come to Israel once every three or four years and give the defendant the sum of $10,000-20,000 each time. The defendant does not usually keep cash at home, and therefore he deposited the money in the bank account (p. 534).