With criminals moving online, fraud is now Israel’s top illicit cash crop – ministry

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/with-criminals-moving-online-fraud-now-israels-top-illicit-cash-crop/

Fraud, especially the type perpetrated online, has become the most significant source of dirty money for Israeli criminals, according to a new report from the Justice Ministry’s anti-money laundering unit.

In its 2021 National Risk Assessment, released in late November, Israeli law enforcement agencies concluded that internet fraud poses the country’s biggest money-laundering risk, in terms of the prevalence of the crime and amount of money generated measured against law enforcement’s capability of thwarting it.

The report stands in contrast to the Money Laundering and Terror Financing Prohibition Authority’s (IMPA) previous report from 2017, which pointed to tax evasion, fictitious invoices and drug trafficking as Israel’s biggest money laundering problems.

The report is a periodic self-assessment that Israel is required to carry out as a condition of its membership in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global anti-money laundering organization.