The police arrested a senior bank employee in Umm al-Fahm this morning (Wednesday) on suspicion of defrauding customers of approximately 800,000 shekels.
The bank employee was arrested following an undercover investigation conducted in recent months on suspicion that she had fraudulently collected money from customers over the years. Today, after the investigation moved to the open phase, the fraud unit in the Coast District located the suspect and arrested her.
The suspect admitted to the suspicions against her. Her investigation is still ongoing.
It is suspected that the employee misrepresented to customers that cash payment was required in order to obtain loan approval.
The investigation was opened following a complaint filed by the bank, during which customers and loans suspected of being related to the method of operation were identified.
The bank employee is suspected of receiving something under aggravated circumstances, fraud and breach of trust in a corporation, extortion, and money laundering.
The investigation material indicates that over several years the suspect collected thousands of shekels in cash for each loan, and the funds were allegedly transferred to her private accounts - in a cumulative amount of approximately 800,000 shekels.
The customers, who apparently believed that this was a payment required to approve the loan, transferred amounts of up to thousands of shekels to her.
The suspect's lawyer told Channel 12: "She gave a version to the police, cooperated and answered the questions.".
At the conclusion of her investigation and in accordance with the needs of the investigation and its findings, a decision will be made to continue the process of requesting her arrest in court.
