Tel Aviv Psychologist Indicted for Forging 131 Evaluations in 12.5 Million Shekel Fraud

Allegations of Large-Scale Fraud

The Jerusalem District Attorney's Office, represented by attorneys Sarit Reich Avniel and Sharon Landau, has filed an indictment in the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court against Yosef Hananel, 73, from Tel Aviv. Hananel, a registered psychologist who does not hold a specialist certification, is accused of conducting 131 psychological evaluations without authorization, forging the signatures of specialist psychologists, obtaining goods by deception under aggravating circumstances, and committing tax offenses.

According to the indictment, Hananel presented a false pretense to patients, parents, and authorities, claiming he was qualified to perform psychological evaluations and that his assessments met legal standards. In reality, he was not a specialist psychologist, was not in an active internship program, and lacked the authority to conduct or sign these evaluations.

Forged Signatures and Public Funds

In some instances, Hananel submitted evaluations to specialist psychologists for review and signature, despite not being authorized to conduct them in the first place. In other cases, after his work with those specialists ended, he forged their signatures without their knowledge to make it appear as though the evaluations had been reviewed and approved. In total, the defendant is charged with 72 counts of forging signatures and 131 instances of signing evaluations without authority.

These evaluations were distributed to parents, diagnostic institutes, and educational institutions, and were submitted to the Ministry of Education to secure learning accommodations and support budgets. Hananel charged approximately 2,000 shekels for each evaluation.

Based on these fraudulent representations, the Ministry of Education allocated support budgets to the students' schools totaling approximately 12.5 million shekels.

Tax Evasion and Charges

The indictment further states that between 2012 and 2021, Hananel omitted income totaling approximately 1.55 million shekels from his reports to the Tax Authority. Among other things, he filed tax returns claiming zero income while actively earning money as both an employee and a self-employed individual, failing to maintain proper accounting records.

The charges against him include:

• Forgery of a document with intent to obtain goods under aggravating circumstances;

• Use of a forged document;

• Obtaining goods by deception under aggravating circumstances;

• Violations of the Psychologists Law;

• Willful omission of income and presenting false documents to evade tax withholding;

• Fraud, deceit, and failure to maintain accounting books.

The investigation was conducted by the Fraud Division of the Jerusalem District Central Unit of the Israel Police, alongside investigators from the Jerusalem and Southern Tax Authority.