Fraudsters posed as National Insurance representatives to steal from the elderly
Mark ben Avraham Nebler and his accomplices, whose identities remain unknown, targeted Russian-speaking seniors by posing as officials to steal large sums of money and jewelry. The vigilance of a victim's family members led to the suspect's arrest.
The State Attorney's Office filed an indictment today, Wednesday, at the Be'er Sheva Magistrate's Court against 72-year-old Mark ben Avraham Nebler of Ashdod. He is charged with fraud committed in conspiracy with others, through which he fraudulently obtained hundreds of thousands of shekels in cash and jewelry from Russian-speaking seniors while posing as a representative of official bodies.
According to the indictment filed by Adv. Daniel Gilad of the Southern District Attorney's Office, Nebler conspired with individuals whose identities remain unknown to defraud elderly Russian-speaking citizens. The conspirators would contact victims by phone, posing as representatives of official institutions, including the National Insurance Institute (Bituach Leumi), and convince them to hand over cash and jewelry under various pretexts.
In one instance, the accomplices posed as National Insurance representatives and even brought a person onto the call who pretended to be the son of one of the complainants. After she was convinced to hand over her money, the defendant arrived at her home in Ashdod, introduced himself as "David," and took approximately 26,000 shekels and 2,000 dollars.
In another case, the accomplices allegedly posed as an insurance representative named "Maya" and warned an elderly woman about "crooks" attempting to steal her bank savings, thereby convincing her to hand over 6,000 shekels and 6,000 dollars to their representative.
According to another charge, Nebler arrived at the home of another complainant in Ashdod after she had been convinced to surrender her jewelry to a representative supposedly acting on behalf of the National Insurance Institute. The imposter took four diamond rings, two bracelets, four earrings, and two necklaces with a total value of approximately 100,000 shekels.
In a final case, Nebler and his partners attempted to fraudulently obtain about 80,000 shekels from an elderly Ashdod resident. The attempt was thwarted when the man's daughter and son-in-law suspected foul play, arrived at the scene, and called the police, who subsequently arrested Nebler.
Adv. Gilad noted that Nebler was fully aware of the severe harm he was inflicting, cynically and maliciously exploiting the vulnerability of the elderly to rob them of their life savings.
The indictment charges Nebler with obtaining property by fraud under aggravating circumstances and attempted obtaining of property by fraud under aggravating circumstances. A request for his detention until the end of proceedings has been filed. The case was investigated by the Ashdod police station.
