- Trending
- Comments
- Latest
Israeli police say organized crime groups including the Mosli and Jarushi families are increasingly using Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether to launder proceeds and finance illegal activity, as a monthlong feud between the two groups has triggered a wave of arson and gun attacks on Japanika restaurant branches across the country.
The issue came into sharp focus following a series of attacks on Japanika restaurant branches across Israel. In Givatayim, two masked men allegedly arrived on an electric scooter at about 4 a.m. carrying bottles containing approximately 4.5 liters of flammable liquid and set fire to the restaurant, according to an indictment.
An employee was inside but was not injured. The branch sustained extensive damage.
Other Japanika locations in Ra’anana, Netanya, Herzliya, Afula, Rosh Pina, Bat Yam, Ramat Gan and Hadera were also targeted with gunfire, grenades or explosives in recent weeks.
The attacks have been linked by police to what Superintendent Rafael Amon described in court as “a very large, violent dispute lasting more than a month between two of Israel’s most powerful organized crime groups, the Mosli and Jarushi organizations.”
The Mosli organization, led by brothers Yossi and Eli Mosli, is regarded by police as one of Israel’s most powerful criminal groups, with activity reported in the greater Tel Aviv region as well as Eastern Europe and South Africa. Intelligence has associated the organization with extortion, gambling, money laundering and other financial crimes.
The Jarushi organization, based in Ramla’s Jawarish neighborhood, is divided into several factions, with police identifying brothers Ismail and Issam Jarushi as senior figures.
Police have worked on the assumption that the Mosli organization was behind the Japanika attacks because its owner, businessman Barak Abramov, is considered close to individuals associated with the Jarushi organization. Abramov is not suspected of wrongdoing.
Both organizations deny that a feud exists.
Several explanations have circulated for the alleged conflict, including territorial disputes, defections and competition over illegal sports betting. However, people familiar with the dispute have pointed to another possible cause: an alleged joint cryptocurrency venture abroad worth tens of millions of shekels.
According to those claims, Eli Mosli distributed the proceeds, while Ismail Jarushi allegedly believed his side had received less than it was owed.
The allegation has not been established in court, and the Mosli and Jarushi families have rejected claims of a dispute.
The alleged conflict nevertheless illustrates how Cryptocurrency Crime can intersect with traditional organized crime, creating disputes over digital assets that can eventually spill into the physical world.
For decades, Israeli criminal organizations relied on cash, shell companies, false invoices, currency exchanges and physical smuggling routes to move illicit funds.
Police say that system is changing.
Digital wallets and cryptocurrency transfers are increasingly becoming part of the criminal economy, allowing money to move rapidly across borders without relying exclusively on traditional banking systems.
Attorney Yaron Gigi, who represents several crime families from Israel’s Arab community, said the appeal of cryptocurrency to criminals is largely its speed and ability to operate outside conventional banking channels.
“It allows money to move quickly, 24 hours a day, from one country to another, without going through the regular banking system and without the wallet owner’s name appearing on every transaction.” — Yaron Gigi, attorney
Gigi said the technology removes some of the practical obstacles associated with moving physical cash internationally.
“Significant sums can move from one digital wallet to another within a short time, even across thousands of miles.” — Yaron Gigi, attorney
Israeli police intelligence commander Dudi Katz said the use of cryptocurrency is no longer confined to a small number of criminal organizations.
“Today we have intelligence, and in some cases evidence that has already developed into criminal investigations, showing that crime organizations across all sectors are using cryptocurrency to launder money.” — Dudi Katz, Israeli police intelligence commander and former head of Lahav 433’s national cybercrime unit
According to Katz, criminals use digital assets to finance weapons and drug purchases, pay associates and compensate people involved in killings. He said large criminal organizations may rely on smaller affiliated groups to carry out violent operations, with cryptocurrency allegedly used for payments.
Drug trafficking is also increasingly moving into digital channels, Katz said, with criminal transactions taking place online through communications platforms such as Telegram and Signal.
Bitcoin was launched in 2009, but Israeli investigators say organized crime groups began seriously recognising the potential of cryptocurrency around 2017.
Initially, Bitcoin’s price volatility presented a problem. A criminal organization holding the equivalent of one million shekels in Bitcoin could see the value of those holdings fluctuate substantially.
The emergence of stablecoins, particularly USDT or Tether, changed the calculation.
Stablecoins are designed to maintain a relatively stable value, with USDT generally structured around a one-dollar value. Tether operates across blockchain networks, including Ethereum.
For criminal organizations, investigators say, stablecoins offer the speed of cryptocurrency without the same degree of exposure to Bitcoin’s price fluctuations.
That development helped expand Cryptocurrency Crime beyond conventional money laundering.
Police say criminal groups now employ younger specialists who understand blockchain technology and digital wallets. Some are reportedly paid millions of shekels for their expertise, including converting cryptocurrency into fiat currency and building online platforms.
Katz said some specialists have created fraudulent trading platforms and cryptocurrency schemes designed to manufacture the appearance of legitimate investment activity.
One method allegedly involves creating a cryptocurrency, generating artificial demand and marketing the asset to investors before the artificial demand collapses and participants lose their money.
The growing technical complexity of these operations has created a new challenge for law enforcement.
Israeli authorities say they seize more than 100 million shekels worth of cryptocurrency annually, although Katz stressed that the amount seized represents only part of the criminal cryptocurrency economy.
Investigators can sometimes recover assets by locating passwords to suspects’ wallets. In one case, Katz said, police discovered a cryptocurrency password written on a piece of paper inside a suspect’s bedside drawer.
Once investigators accessed the wallet, they began transferring the funds into police-controlled wallets while an associate of the suspect simultaneously attempted to move the assets elsewhere.
The episode demonstrates one of the defining characteristics of Cryptocurrency Crime: investigators can be forced to race against criminals attempting to transfer digital assets between wallets.
Cryptocurrency wallets generally fall into three broad categories.
Cold wallets are physical devices kept offline and are considered highly secure. Hot wallets are connected to the internet through applications or computer software, making them easier to use but more vulnerable to cyberattacks. Custodial wallets are controlled by third-party companies such as cryptocurrency exchanges.
The differences matter for law enforcement.
A cold wallet can be extremely difficult to access without its recovery phrase. A custodial exchange, however, can potentially freeze an account when presented with an appropriate court order.
The problem for Israeli investigators is that many exchanges operate outside the country.
Katz said Cryptocurrency Crime investigations frequently require cooperation with foreign companies and authorities, complicating efforts to freeze and recover suspected criminal assets.
The challenge became evident in a case involving a Jerusalem money exchange business raided in November 2024. Investigators discovered a digital wallet containing approximately $101 million in cryptocurrency, primarily Ethereum. Police suspected the wallet was connected to large-scale money laundering and organized crime.
Authorities also seized property, cash, foreign currency and cryptocurrency worth more than 6 million shekels. Nearly two years later, however, no indictments had been filed in that case.
Another investigation in Kafr Qasim in September 2025 allegedly uncovered a cryptocurrency-based financial network involving seven people. Police estimated that approximately 110 million shekels had been laundered through cryptocurrency, with suspected proceeds from protection rackets, drug trafficking, gray-market lending and gambling allegedly moved through numerous wallets.
The growing role of Cryptocurrency Crime has also pushed Israeli authorities to strengthen cooperation between police, tax officials, customs, prosecutors and the Israel Money Laundering and Terror Financing Prohibition Authority.
Shlomi Estrogo, a senior Israel Tax Authority investigations official, said the agency monitors wallets displaying significant transaction activity.
“We have a department at the Tax Authority that deals with the crypto world at the highest level.” — Shlomi Estrogo, Israel Tax Authority investigations official
Estrogo said blockchain records can ultimately help investigators identify people behind seemingly anonymous wallets.
“A criminal can transfer the contents from one wallet to another, but he cannot erase the record from the blockchain.” — Shlomi Estrogo, Israel Tax Authority investigations official
The authorities have also begun using artificial intelligence and transaction-monitoring systems to map relationships between wallets and identify suspicious activity.
Police are responding by recruiting younger cyber specialists who understand the technology used by criminal networks.
Katz said the new generation of investigators is essential to keeping pace with criminals.
“The scale of cryptocurrency use is going to grow. That is simply the reality.” — Dudi Katz, Israeli police intelligence commander and former head of Lahav 433’s national cybercrime unit
The transformation is still unfolding. Legitimate cryptocurrency companies in Israel operate under regulatory oversight, but police say criminal organizations can bypass the regulated sector by using foreign exchanges, private wallets and fraudulent platforms.
Source; ynet news
Copyright © 2025 - The Bit Gazette.
