Edited by: TJVNews.com

A former resident of the Fairfax District of Los Angeles has been arrested on a criminal complaint alleging he defrauded investors, primarily members of the Orthodox Jewish community, by inducing them into investing millions of dollars in his security camera business and his purported real estate ventures in Israel, the Justice Department announced on Friday.

Yossi Engel, 35, an Israeli man charged by US authorities with defrauding investors, primarily Orthodox Jews, of at least $47 million before fleeing the country in 2021 was arrested on Wednesday n Los Angeles, federal prosecutors announced on Friday.

The Times of Israel reported that Engel was indicted in January in absentia for allegedly using his company iWitness Tech to target potential investors from Orthodox Jewish communities in Los Angeles and New Jersey. The alleged offenses occurred between 2018 and 2021, when he fled to Israel.

The attorney’s office said he faces one count of wire fraud and if convicted would face up to 20 years in prison.

According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, Engel orchestrated a scheme in which he made false representations and used forged documents to induce victims to make investments in and provide loans for iWitness Tech Inc., a Hancock Park-based security camera company and for properties Engel falsely claimed to own and be developing in Israel. Hancock Park is a neighborhood in Los Angeles with a large population of Orthodox Jews.

The TOI also reported that according to the indictment filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Engel defrauded investors by presenting himself as a businessman seeking capital to purchase and install security cameras in Los Angeles as anti-Semitic incidents escalated in the US. He also allegedly bilked investors by telling them he would use their funds to purchase property in Israel, which he promised to then renovate and sell for profit, the TOI report said.
Engel showed victims a video depicting himself socializing with the mayor of Bnei Brak, Israel, and claimed to have met with the mayor concerning Engel’s purported real estate deals in the city, the affidavit states. But Engel did not have a close relationship with the mayor, and he did not discuss with the mayor these real estate ventures in the city, according to the affidavit.

Engel allegedly used fraudulent Israel land documents to dupe victims into thinking he owned these properties. Through these fake documents and his own trusted position in the Orthodox Jewish community, Engel allegedly lulled existing victims and encouraged new victims to send him money.

In January 2023, the Los Angeles Daily News reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission said in the suit seeking sanctions and undisclosed civil penalties against Engel, “Both of these claims were false. Rather than use investor money to purchase cameras or develop property, Engel misappropriated the funds by spending investor money for his personal benefit and making Ponzi-like payments to earlier investors in an attempt to keep the scheme going.”
Engel cultivated a reputation in the Orthodox Jewish community as trustworthy, charismatic and generous. According to the SEC, he opened a small synagogue in a room next to his iWitness office where he taught from the Torah, which is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, the Los Angeles Daily News reported in January.

“Engel, however, exploited the goodwill he engendered through his community activities to engage in a fraudulent securities offering scheme,” says the suit.

Engel offered short-term investments and loans in iWitness that ranged from $15,000 to $1.3 million. The investments and loans were for two weeks to six months and would purportedly provide investors with 10% to 60% annualized interest, according to the affidavit. Victims were duped, in part, by being shown copies of false and fraudulent invoices of work iWitness purportedly did with other companies.
Engel told victims that iWitness was a large business with many clients, but in fact it did not have as much business as he claimed, and work was so slack that at times iWitness employees sat around waiting for work while Engel slept on a couch, the affidavit states.

The TOI also reported that the indictment says Engel used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle, spending $56,880 at casinos and flying on private jets at least twice. He also wired more than $2.5 million to currency exchangers in Israel and withdrew over $861,000 in cash.

A member of an Orthodox synagogue in Los Angeles, Engel met his victims at the synagogue or through introductions from other members of the community, the TOI report said. The indictment said he gradually developed a reputation as a serious Torah scholar and a generous donor and even opened a small synagogue adjacent to his business.

Engel lied to investors that he needed private investments for both iWitness and the Israeli real estate projects because he was from Israel and did not have sufficient credit in the United States to obtain the lower interest rates available through U.S. banks, the affidavit states.

But, the affidavit alleges, Engel did not use the victims’ money as promised, and instead used it for his personal expenses – including trips via private jets and casino visits – and to make Ponzi payments to investors to perpetuate the scheme.
Once the alleged scheme fell apart in early 2021, Engel fled the United States for Israel.

At this time, the FBI has identified losses of approximately $5 million. The federal criminal investigation is continuing.

If convicted, Engel would face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.