Israel indicts former tax authority official and Dudi Appel in multi-million shekel fraud and money laundering case

The Israel Tax Authority filed an indictment against Shimon Cohen, a former senior official and lawyer-accountant, Dudi Appel, and three others for a series of economic offenses. According to the indictment, Cohen used fictitious trusts and false documents to help clients hide undeclared assets and income, and conducted money laundering of about 50 million shekels. In one case, Cohen and another lawyer created a fake trust backdated to 2005 to conceal a client's undeclared foreign assets. In another, Cohen fabricated a trust allegedly from 1990, overstating its value, and received $300,000 in cash undeclared. In a 2018 brokerage deal, Cohen and Appel allegedly used false loan agreements to funnel millions of shekels to Appel via his family, hiding them from the official receiver and tax authorities. The indictment also targets three companies controlled by Cohen.