This morning it was announced via Israeli media that up to 20 arrests had been made in Israel at the request of the German prosecutor’s office. Allegedly, 4 to 6 Israelis are to be extradited to Germany to face binary options and broker fraud charges. According to the latest information, it is said to be an action by the prosecutor’s office in Bamberg, Germany, in connection with the GetFinancial scam. We do not have a definite confirmation yet. The international law enforcement operation is said to have taken place in Israel and Georgia, where the organization has operated boiler rooms.
The GetFinancial binary options scam is directly connected to the E&G Bulgaria cybercrime organization around Gal Barak, Gery Shalon, and Vladislav Smirnov. Israeli lawyer David Bar-El is the brother-in-law of Gery Shalon and is said to be directly involved in the operation of the GetFinancial scam network. The European Fund Recovery Initiative (EFRI) filed a corresponding complaint in February 2021 and demanded the money stolen from the victims back from David Bar-El.
In addition to Gery Shalon and his brother-in-law David Bar-El, according to a former partner of Shalon, his father Shota Shalelashvili was also allegedly involved in the scam activities. At the time, Shalelashvili was still a Georgian member of parliament for the ruling party. At the time, the opposition accused him of being involved in his son’s money laundering activities.
There will be a lot more new information coming out in the next few hours. Stay tuned.
