TheTimes of Israel journalist Simona Weinglass today reported that U.S. prosecutors indicted 12 more alleged Israeli binary options perpetrator, all of them associated with the Yukom case around BinaryBook.com and BigOption.com. This brings the total number of Israelis prosecuted in this case to 18. The Yukom case is the first major criminal investigation of the fraudulent Israeli binary options scene. This case is therefore regarded internationally as a role model for the many other expected indictments in various jurisdictions.
18 Defendents in Binary Options Case
The indictment against the 12 defendants was issued on February 13, 2019, already but kept under seal for four months. It was partially unsealed on June 12 and the public learned that Lee Elbaz, the former CEO of Yukom Communications will be indicted for binary options fraud. Over the last couple of months, 5 more people have been charged by the U.S. government. While Lee Elbaz pretends to be not guilty her co-workers have already pleaded guilty.
Indicted so far
- Lee Elbaz (a/k/a “Lena Green”), the former CEO of the Israel-based company, Yukom Communications, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud, the trial date has been set for July 16, 2019.
- Austin Smith, (a/k/a “John Ried“) former Vice President of Numaris, a partner of Yukom, and founder of Wealth Recovery International pleaded guilty. Sentencing has been scheduled for September 3, 2019.
- Yair Hadar (a/k/a “Steven Gold”) pleaded guilty on March 21, 2019. Sentencing has been scheduled for August 23, 2019.
- Lissa Mel (a/k/a “Monica Sanders”) pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Sentencing has been scheduled for Aug 23, 2019.
- Liora Welles (a/k/a “Lindsay Cole” “Lindsay Wells,” and “Lindsay Taylor”) pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Sentencing has been scheduled for Aug 16, 2019.
- Shira Uzan (a/k/a “Shira Baror” and “Emily Laski”) pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud charged. Sentencing has been scheduled for Aug 16, 2019.
The new Court canditates
According to The Times of Israel Yosef Herzog (aka Yossi Herzog), the former owner of Yukom Communications, Nissim Alfasi, allegedly an employee of Yukom Communications and brand manager for BinaryBook, and Elad Bigelman, allegedly an employee of Yukom Communications and brand manager for BigOption are among the other people that are indicted.
The other nine defendants’ names are still under seal and their names and credentials have been redacted from the indictment. In any case, the binary options trial &
