Last update – 10:06 28/07/2009
Israel okays extradition of suspected Israeli mob kingpins to U.S.
By Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondent

Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday approved the state’s request to extradite senior mob figures Yitzhak and Meir Abergil to the United States as per a criminal indictment that was served against them last year. The Abergils are the subject of a racketeering investigation.

Israeli authorities will also extradite three additional suspected criminals – Sason Barashi, Moshe Malul, and Yisrael Ozifa – implicated in the Abergil investigation.

Prosecutors allege that the Abergils conspired with Malul to arrange for the murder of a known drug dealer, Sami Atias, in Los Angeles. The Abergil brothers are also alleged to have extorted money from Chai Vaknin and his brother, Asi Vaknin, a former partner in the Roberto modeling agency, in a scheme to launder hundreds of thousands of dollars embezzled from a bank.

American authorities allege that Asi Vaknin lost upwards of one million dollars in failed stock investments.

Malul, who heads the so-called “Malul Brothers” crime syndicate, is suspected of smuggling ecstasy into the U.S. Malul is alleged to have sought revenge against Atias, who tried to steal quantities of ecstasy. Atias, however, belonged to a Jerusalem-based mob allied with the Abergils.

Through an intermediary, Malul sought Yitzhak Abergil’s approval to kill Atias, according to authorities. After mulling the proposal, Abergil gave the go-ahead.

The Abergils’ attorney, Sharon Nahari, said that the state has yet to rule in favor of defendants whose extradition is sought in criminal cases, with one exception. “This is a difficult process,” Nahari said. “On the other hand, the court did accept some of our arguments.”

“We are not satisfied, but we still have a chance to appeal to a higher authority,” Nahari said. “The brothers are disappointed. They are convinced that there is no reason to extradite them. There is no evidence of criminal activity in this case.”

The extradition request was based on hundreds of hours of statements given by witnesses and federal agents, wiretaps, and surveillance of the Abergil crime syndicate and its activities in the U.S.

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