The Jerusalem District Fraud Unit, in cooperation with National Insurance Institute (Bituach Leumi) investigators, on Wednesday morning arrested a resident of southern Israel on suspicion of running a large-scale fraud scheme.
The fraud is believed to have costed the National Insurance Institute a total of tens of millions of shekels in false claims for "disabled child" benefits for children who were claimed to have, but did not have, autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Several parents suspected of collaborating with her were also detained.
According to investigators, the primary suspect operated for an extended period of time through a private company she owned, offering “assistance” to families in filing benefit requests for their children.
In practice, she submitted fraudulent applications for children who did not meet the eligibility criteria, while forging medical documents, expert opinions, and official forms that appeared to be signed by professionals.
The investigation found that she used parents’ personal login credentials to the National Insurance system to file these requests, which included forged documents, on their behalf. For each case, the suspect took tens of thousands of shekels from the families, who paid her with full knowledge that the process was illegal.
During searches conducted at the suspects' homes, police seized documents, large sums of money, and additional evidence. All individuals involved were questioned at the Jerusalem Police Department on suspicion of aggravated fraud, forgery, use of forged documents, and deception.
In a joint statement, Israel Police and the National Insurance Institute stated: “Israel Police and the National Insurance Institute take very seriously any attempt to defraud State authorities. We will continue to act decisively to expose those involved, prosecute them, and recover the stolen funds.”