Former Businessman Nissim Dajaldati Convicted of Million-Shekel Fraud
The Tel Aviv District Court convicted former businessman Nissim Dajaldati of defrauding a prison acquaintance of one million shekels, money laundering, and forgery. Dajaldati embezzled investment funds while operating during his prison term and license release.
The Tel Aviv District Court convicted former businessman Nissim Dajaldati of aggravated fraud, money laundering, document forgery, and tax offenses on Wednesday. Dajaldati was found guilty of defrauding an inmate he met in prison of one million shekels under the guise of a stock purchase in a public shell company.
According to the verdict delivered by Judge Michal Agmon-Gonen, Dajaldati and the victim developed a friendship and trust while serving prison sentences, which later evolved into business ties. In 2020, Dajaldati offered his acquaintance the opportunity to invest one million shekels in exchange for a 2.5 percent stake in a public company. The victim initially transferred 250,000 shekels to a lawyer's escrow account as a down payment, but Dajaldati used the funds to deposit a personal court bond required in an earlier criminal proceeding without the victim's knowledge or consent.
In January 2021, the victim transferred the remaining 750,000 shekels to the account of Y.P.A. Tanaim Ltd., after Dajaldati claimed the transfer method was necessary for tax purposes. Out of these funds, 728,000 shekels were withdrawn in cash and handed to Dajaldati after commission deductions. Despite receiving the full one million shekels, Dajaldati never transferred the shares, later claiming the original price was 1.8 million shekels and demanding an additional 800,000 shekels.
The court rejected Dajaldati's claims, supported by handwritten documents and correspondence between the parties. Judge Agmon-Gonen emphasized that the fraud spanned roughly three months and involved a severe breach of trust. Alongside Dajaldati, Israel Migad, the owner of a financial services business, and Y.P.A. Tanaim Ltd. were convicted of forgery, document falsification, corporate record manipulation, and money laundering after fabricating identification documents and powers of attorney to withdraw the funds.
While convicted on multiple severe counts, Dajaldati was acquitted of theft by a power of attorney regarding the stock deal, as well as an additional fraud charge concerning a 100,000 shekel investment in Excel Solutions shares due to reasonable doubt. The prosecution was handled by Adv. Noam Uziel from the Tel Aviv District Taxation and Economics Prosecution Office.
