Israeli police arrest five people in connection with a $5 million crypto transaction investigation

Israeli police arrested five suspects in a money-laundering investigation involving roughly 16 million shekels (about $5 million) in cryptocurrency transactions arranged through a WhatsApp group, with the Lahav 433 economic crimes unit alleging the group operated an unlicensed crypto service and failed to report trades to tax authorities. Investigators say the group used fictitious agreements to make crypto proceeds deposited into bank accounts appear as loans, and searches of the suspects' homes turned up wallets, computers and tens of thousands of shekels in cash. The five were questioned on suspicion of money laundering, fraud and providing financial asset services without a license. The case signals growing scrutiny of off-exchange, chat-based crypto trading in Israel and whether informal operators comply with licensing and tax-reporting rules; watch for indictments or charges and any expansion of the probe to additional counterparties.