They took advantage of the Corona pandemic ... to extend the detention of two French Israelis, on suspicion of fraud

On Monday, the Israeli authorities requested an extension of police detention for two French Israelis suspected of using the Corona pandemic to commit a series of frauds, pending their extradition to the French authorities.

The Israeli police arrested the two men about ten days ago for attempting to defraud France-based companies.

"The two suspects who benefited from the Corona virus crisis withdrew large sums of French companies by fraud," Justice Minister Amir Ohana said in a statement.

According to the ministry, the French authorities, who requested their arrest, are suspected of proposing real estate, gold, and modern medical research projects linked to the virus, without providing further details.    

On Monday, the International Department of the Public Prosecutor's Office asked the Jerusalem Court to "extend the police detention" of the two suspects "at the request of the French authorities, who are expected to request their extradition," according to the same source.  

The police indicated that the two men contacted corporate accounting officers in France, claiming they were lawyers, and asked them to make secret money transfers for secret projects as well.    

The suspects reside in the city of Ra'anana in central Israel, where many French Israelis live.   

"We thought that it would be easier to fraud during the period of the virus," Israeli police spokesman Micky Runfield told AFP.   

This fraud attempt is the second largest fraud in Israel by French people in Israel since the beginning of the pandemic. 

The authorities arrested two French women suspected of selling protective gloves to companies in France early last month, according to the Israeli authorities and the public prosecutor in the French city of Rennes. 

The two women, aged 37 and 70, from the same family, were arrested in Netanya, north of Tel Aviv, where a large French community lives.    

These arrests were carried out by the Israeli authorities in cooperation with the central office to combat financial fraud that deals with money laundering and terrorist financing cases in France.