The Magistrate’s Court in Rishon Lezion allowed this afternoon (Monday) to publish that the suspects in a huge creative, sophisticated and international scam, which was revealed in the Calcalist investigation a year and a half ago, are the entrepreneur Adi Cohen, who lives in Caesarea and is the main suspect in the case. Tzur is the son of the late sixth Chief of Staff Zvi (Chera) Tzur. The two’s detention was extended by a week until Sunday.
The investigation revealed an affair in which the suspects stabbed dozens of senior businessmen in the economy by NIS 120 million (more than $ 32 million), including prominent figures in the high-tech industry, venture capital, industry and former senior military officials. The funds raised from them as an investment in the venture later turned out, according to the suspicion, to be fictitious.
Among the stung, as published in the investigation: Zohar Gilon, one of the greatest private angels in Israel, who has been behind dozens of exits; Iri Steimatzky, former owner of the book chain named after him and now a prominent investor; Former ACA chief Maj. Gen. Gideon Sheffer; high-tech entrepreneur Assaf Lapidot, son of former Air Force commander Amos Lapidot, and another group of former Air Force pilots; And Dr. Gideon Shichman, a veteran investor in the world of venture capital, who invested with his family.
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Right: Adi Cohen, Geva Tzur
The victims were lured, according to the suspicion, to invest in a project in the field of materials under a company called AM Advanced Materials. The company, as it was presented to investors, has developed a kind of unique and secret metal powder, which is ostensibly developed in a research laboratory in Tokyo, Japan, together with a local partner, and which is supposed to fundamentally change the world of automotive and electric batteries. Among other things, investors were presented with proposals according to which billions of dollars were to be signed with Toyota and Sony, and progress in the project was constantly reported. Investors transferred the money in exchange for shares in the venture or as a loan that they could later convert into shares.
But the investigation, as well as the investigation that followed, revealed that these were ostensibly absurd misrepresentations and that in fact there was no powder, no research lab, no development, no Japanese partner, no contracts with the Japanese giants, and the money disappeared through the use of companies and straw men.
The investigation has been conducted covertly since the disclosure in Calcalist, following a complaint filed by one of the stung investors, Dr. Gideon Shichman. Money laundering and terrorist financing and accompanied by the Tel Aviv Tax and Economics Prosecutor’s Office.
The main suspects are charged with many offenses such as conspiracy to commit a crime, receiving anything fraudulently under aggravated circumstances, theft by an authorized person, forgery under aggravated circumstances, money laundering, tax offenses, offenses under VAT law, false registration in corporate documents, offenses under VAT law, Disruption of investigation procedures and more.
A police spokeswoman said at today’s hearing that Cohen is “the head and entrepreneur of the fraud platform” and that he is suspected of having created and operated the fake lie and asked to extend his detention by ten days. Cohen denied the suspicions against him and his defense attorneys argued that things should continue to be clarified in civil legal proceedings that have been going on for about two years in the case. Justice of the Peace Tal Anar extended his detention for a week and wrote in his decision that a reasonable suspicion had formed against Cohen that linked him to suspicions that he “acted with sophisticated fraud methods” and stated that he “has the skills to influence others and maneuver.” Zur claimed at the hearing, as he claimed at the time in the “Calcalist” investigation, that he went after Cohen and fell victim to his fraud, but Judge Anar did not accept his version, which he said does not reconcile with the investigation materials. In addition, the detention of the additional suspects was extended by three days. One of them is Amir Cohen, the younger brother of Adi Cohen, who is suspected of having the companies involved in the fraud and concealment of the stolen money registered in his name, although he claims he was not aware of the alleged sting acts.
As revealed in the Calcalist research, Cohen introduced himself to investors as the “technological brain” that heads the project’s development activities as the sole director, and as an autodidact who has been involved in the development of diverse materials and production processes for decades. He described how he works in Japan within a lab complex that produces for Toyota and Sony unique products in their features. He maintained a veil of secrecy and secrecy, arguing that this was the condition set by the Japanese giant corporations. Therefore no one but himself was allowed to see the process of manufacturing the unique materials.
Cohen said the development activity is being done in the secret labs of a Japanese partner company called Y&P in Tokyo, which includes research halls and advanced equipment. These labs, he said, employ 38 workers, including drones, electronics technicians, chemists, engineers and more, who are subordinate to him and follow his instructions. He said he met and worked in collaboration with a man on behalf of the Japanese partner named “Suzuki” who is the direct contact for Toyota and Sony, and that the relationship in front of him must also be kept completely secret, he said, due to a meticulous demand from the Japanese partner. He scattered promises and presentations that the developed products were to be purchased for billions of dollars.
Zur, who served as chairman of the company, was responsible for business and commercial conduct. And especially for raising funds for the venture. He maintained continuous email contact with a woman described as a representative of the Japanese partner. These emails were also shown to investors in the company to show progress on projects. AM has an advanced materials invoice for the purchase of expensive raw materials for the development process, and the Israeli company was required to inject its share in the project – and raise more money from investors for this purpose. The amounts increased, reaching millions of dollars per invoice. And secrecy, “one investor told Calcalist at the time,” but in the face of the size of the story and the agreement with Toyota and Sony and the prospect of profit, people were tempted. ”
Shichman was the first investor to have suspicions about the venture, until he went out for an in-depth independent investigation that raised difficult question marks. The warning letters he distributed to his fellow investors fell on deaf ears as they tried to stick to their investment, until at some point the token also fell there – and they decided to hire an international investigative firm whose findings showed they had actually fallen victim to a subtle sting.
Following this, the group of investors, represented by attorneys Israel Bachar and Nofar Sahar of Perl Cohen Tzedek Letzer Baretz, began conducting civil lawsuits themselves with the aim of returning their money, and even then claimed that the entire project from start to finish was in fact a stinging exercise and sophisticated fraud – “Orba Perach “A complete lie.”
Shikman, for his part, devoted much time and energy in the pursuit of his money, accompanied by the civil proceedings he conducted by attorneys Eitan Erez and Mor Ben-Shoshan, and the filing of complaints to law enforcement by Orit Hayun. Of Adi Cohen and Geva Tzur stated today that “this is one of the hair-raising scams in the history of the State of Israel, during which dozens of innocent investors were stung. The victims were seduced by false presentations according to which Adi Cohen allegedly invented a magic powder and an innovative metal alloy for the production of cars sold to Toyota and a revolutionary battery sold to Sony for billions of dollars. “It was only due to the vigilance of Dr. Gidi Shichman that he called Sony’s Vice President of the World. The scam was discovered.
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First car made by Sony. Her name is included in the project
(Photo: Sony)
Among other things, the Calcalist investigation revealed the findings of the surveillance and the private investigation conducted in 2019 around the world at the invitation of EM investors, with the aim of tracing Cohen and the disappearing funds. The investigation revealed that the Japanese company, which was allegedly a partner in the venture, was registered near the establishment of the Israeli company, and that the person registered as an administrator is a young man, who is generally a student living in California. It was later revealed that the guy’s father, an Israeli who lived in Japan and has previous ties to Cohen and his wife and was their former neighbor in Caesarea.
In addition, private investigators were able to track Cohen in Japan, document him passing false reports to investors, and especially document “on hot” the moment he met in a hotel business lounge with the same friend, and talked to him about the scam and its ways of hiding, when the climax was when they We planned to produce a fake picture of a meeting with that mysterious “Mr. Suzuki” to try to reassure the investors who then expressed doubts about the venture. This is done by sending one of the friend’s employees, who will dress up as a businessman and basically play the same Suzuki, which did not actually exist.
In addition, the researchers visited a compound where the research labs were supposed to be, but when they went inside they were amazed: no labs, no advanced development equipment and no special materials but it was a Toyota car seat factory. “And this is just the tip of the iceberg,” investor Assaf Lapidot wrote in an affidavit he previously submitted to the court. “All of Adi Cohen’s presentations, one by one, turned out to be a blatant lie … It turned out that all his reports were a complete lie and that he was lying in real time about all his actions in Japan.”
Other findings that were discovered later in the private investigation are that nothing is registered in Cohen’s name – no car, no apartment, not even a bank account. This did not stop him and his wife from leading a ostentatious lifestyle, living on a large estate in Caesarea, owning some luxury vehicles and living extravagantly. : Among other things, there is a fabric of companies, the registered ownership of which is mostly of the family members of Adi Cohen. In addition, alleged evidence was found of the transfer of funds from P&Y in Japan to accounts related to the Cohen family and even to the clearing of the account on credit. These and other findings are currently in the hands of law enforcement agencies.
Since then, many civil proceedings have taken place around the affair, and Tzur has even entered into bankruptcy proceedings. Tzur, who was then interviewed by Calcalist, pointed an accusing finger at his former partner: “Adi Cohen treated me with levels that my life was destroyed. When I look back on my life, I realize how great the blindness was. This blindness hit me and a whole group of investors. “Like a drunk, I borrowed money from friends and people I know, but it’s only because I really believed in this venture. I’ve never stolen money. Cohen, for his part, then rejected the allegations against him and blamed Tzur. He then stated through his lawyer Avichai Vardi that “as long as investors have complaints, they should be referred to the financiers and the director of the company (Geva Tzur) and certainly not to the research and development person.” Advocate Vardi said today after Cohen’s arrest that “the case in question has been in civil proceedings for about two years, and was even examined by an official on behalf of the court in Haifa. I wonder how after such a long time the police came into the picture.”