Israel will submit a formal request for the extradition of Michael (Mike) Ben-Ari who is suspected of investor fraud

The International Department of the State Attorney's Office has announced that it will submit a formal request for the extradition of Michael (Mike) Ben-Ari, who is suspected of investor fraud. Ben-Ari fled abroad in May 2021 and at Israel's request he was recently arrested, on June 24, in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Israel and Bosnia and Herzegovina are parties to the European extradition treaty, so the extradition process for Ben-Ari to Israel is governed by this treaty.
The Securities Authority's investigation into the affair became public in April 2021. Ben-Ari was released from detention under restrictive conditions and was not allowed to leave the country, but he forged a passport of an acquaintance named Nahum Eisenstadt - and so he fled. Subsequently, Eisenstadt was convicted as part of a plea deal of offenses of obstruction of justice and breach of a joint legal provision.
Ben-Ari is suspected of offering investors to invest through a private company owned by him, in foreign funds, while presenting false representations that this is a safe investment that will yield a high guaranteed return. In practice, he took on money he had received from hundreds of investors for over a decade - in investment amounts estimated at about $ 60 million.
The case is managed by the Securities Department of the Tax and Economics Prosecutor's Office and is being investigated by the Securities Authority's Investigations, Intelligence and Trade Control Department. The extradition case is being handled by Adv. Sharon Horowitz of the International Department of the State Attorney's Office and the Interpol Squad of the Israel Police.
Attorneys Eitan Erez and Mor Ben-Shoshan, representing 740 investors whom Ben-Ari deceived, said: "We welcome Ben-Ari's arrest and hope that he will be extradited to Israel and provide the trustee, Adv. Lior Dagan, with additional vital information that will enable our clients to receive their money. It is just a pity that the arrest was made a year and two months after his escape from the country with a fake passport. It is even more unfortunate that the Securities Authority through its negligence allowed Ben-Ari to sting hundreds of innocent investors in the hundreds of millions of shekels from the end of 2018 to March 2021, even though it knew about its deeds and did not bother to arrest him or go to court.
"In April 2021, the PA agreed to release Ben-Ari on a petty bail of NIS 2 million without requiring actual detention or electronic restraint, thus allowing him to escape. In doing so, the PA caused another direct damage of NIS 30 million, which Ben-Ari 'burned' since fleeing From the country. "