Dudi Ezra, chairman of the Net Holdings Group, was arrested on suspicion of smuggling money over 475,000 euros abroad. Ezra was released from custody in the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court under restrictive conditions, with the consent of the Tax Authority.
The investigation against Ezra is being conducted at the Jerusalem Customs and VAT Investigations Department in collaboration with customs inspectors at Ben Gurion Airport’s passenger on suspicion of attempting to smuggle money abroad. From Israel to Greece, when in a suitcase that was sent to the belly of the plane, 475,695 euros in cash were removed.
The suspect was questioned at the offices of the investigating unit this morning (Monday) and gave his version. According to the arrest request, “during his interrogation, he admitted that he knew that there was a duty to declare money out of the country, but he claimed that he did not declare the money because he did not know where to declare money when leaving the country.” The arrest request also states that during the investigation, Ezra claimed that “the funds were intended to be paid to contractors who worked on the renovation of a holiday home he purchased in Corfu, Greece.”
When asked about the source of the funds that were used to purchase the currency from money changers, he claimed that these were collected by him over the past few years and withdrawn in cash from his private accounts.
The request for release from detention further stated that “David Ezra did not know how to provide identifying details about the exchanges from which the foreign currency was purchased and did not present to his investigators the receipts or references for the purchase of the foreign currency.”
Ezra is suspected of violating the Anti-Money Laundering Law and violating the VAT Law.
During the hearing for his release from custody, Ezra’s attorney, Adv. Yoav Sennes, claimed that “Mr. Ezra has served as chairman of the board of directors of this net group for more than four decades. Throughout the period he acted with integrity and never adhered to a flaw in his conduct. He fully cooperates with the authorities. “The lawyer added that” it is important to clarify emphatically: the said funds are funds of Mr. Ezra in respect of which tax was paid as a religion and goddess and the substance of the matter is merely a technical violation. “
Judge Amir Shaked accepted the tax authority’s request and ordered the release of Ezra under restrictive conditions, including a self-guarantee of NIS half a million, a third-party guarantee of NIS 100,000 and a 90-day delay in leaving the country.
Net response: “The suspicions on which Mr. Ezra was investigated are not related to the company or the fulfillment of his role in it. The company estimates that the aforesaid will have no effect on its business and activities.”
Dudi Ezra’s response: “The funds were intended for payment as part of a private transaction made abroad.”
T.P. 9227-06-22
*** Presumption of innocence: It should be emphasized that Dudi Ezra is only a suspect, no indictment has been filed against him and he is presumed innocent.