The Tel Aviv District Court today (Sunday), based on his confession, convicted Roy Kuzin, the chief analyst of UTrade, of numerous offenses of aiding and abetting fraudulent receipts under aggravated circumstances, in which approximately 77 million shekels were raised from approximately 600 of the company's clients.
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In accordance with a plea agreement reached between the parties, attorneys Nitzan Vulkan, Dror Levy, and Hadar Kola from the Securities Department of the Taxation and Economic Affairs Attorney's Office filed an amended indictment against Kuzin.
Kuzin pleaded guilty and District Court Judge Dana Amir convicted him of the offenses he was charged with.
As part of the settlement, the parties will request that he be sentenced to 22 months in prison and a fine of 25,000 shekels.
Between 2012 and 2015, Kozin served as the chief analyst for UTrade, which offered computerized trading services using an algorithm.
The amended indictment states that, as part of recruiting clients, they were presented with false representations and material information regarding the company's activities was concealed from them. Among other things, with the assistance of Kuzin, clients were presented with false data regarding the returns generated by trading activities - even though Kuzin, who supervised the trading robot and had access to the trading accounts, knew that the data did not reflect the company's actual performance.
In 2015, after unauthorized use of customer funds was made for UTrade's ongoing needs and the company had difficulty returning their money, Couzin assisted Aviv Talmor, owner and manager of UTrade, in getting dozens of customers to sign debt settlement agreements.
This was done while they were told that the delay in returning the funds was due to temporary technical difficulties, without being given an update on the company's financial situation.
Talmor was convicted in the case and sentenced to five years in prison and a fine.
In addition, Cousin helped clients sign agreements that guaranteed them a "loss-protected account," provided they did not withdraw their money from UTrade for 12 months, even though he knew that leaving the funds with the company put them at risk.
Kozin was interrogated in 2016 and left Israel shortly thereafter. In 2018, he and others were indicted, and efforts have been made over the years to locate him.
In July 2025, he was arrested in Mexico following arrest and extradition requests submitted by the International Department of the Attorney General's Office, and in January 2026, he was extradited to Israel for trial.
The case was investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
