Police arrest Palestinian antiquities dealers on tax charges

Five antiquities dealers were arrested for tax evasion amounting to millions of shekels.  

Israeli police on Sunday arrested five Palestinian antiquities dealers from east Jerusalem for large-scale tax offenses.

Police spokesman Luba Samri says luxury cars, some $200,000 in cash and various antiquities were confiscated Sunday in a raid on the suspects’ homes and offices.

The antiquities seized included ancient parchment pieces written in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Latin, as well as ancient weapons, sculptures from the Hellenistic and Roman periods, pottery and coins of bronze, silver and gold.

Samri said the raid followed a joint investigation with American law enforcement agencies who were informed about Israeli antiquity dealers who had issued fake receipts and invoices over the past seven years.

That led to an undercover operation that exposed the scheme.

The suspects were brought before a judge for remanding.

By: AP

CrimeJerusalemTax evasion