Yossi Engel, 35, who moved to Israel in March 2021 but temporarily returned to the Los Angeles area last month, is charged with one count of wire fraud. Engel was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport as he was prepared to leave the country.

Prosecutors say that from September 2018 to January 2021 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.

Intra-community crime

Engel allegedly used his community relationships to defraud victims, who primarily came from the Orthodox Jewish communities in the Los Angeles and New York areas.

He allegedly claimed to need money in the form of short-term loans with high rates of return for iWitness’ business operations, namely the purported purchase and installation of security cameras for its customers.

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, prosecutors say.

But the scheme had another dimension: a fictitious property development in Israel.

Engel allegedly also falsely claimed to own and be developing real estate in Israel, telling victims that he needed money for redevelopment work and falsely promising he would sell the properties and share the profits with investors. Engel showed victims a video depicting himself socialising with the mayor of Bnei Brak, Israel and claimed to have met the mayor to discuss Engel’s purported real estate deals in the city. 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 prosecutors.

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 amongst Orthodox Jews, Engel allegedly lulled existing victims and encouraged new victims to send him money.

Engel did not use the victims’ money as promised, Instead, he 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, prosecutors allege.

Once the alleged scheme fell apart in early 2021, Engel fled the United States for Israel. The estimated gain is USD5 million.

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