Ramla Court Sentences Key Figure in Massive Fuel Tax Fraud Case to Prison
The Ramla Magistrate's Court sentenced Raed Shaar to 40 months in prison and a one-million-shekel fine for his role in the massive 'Star Born' fuel tax fraud network.
A significant blow has been dealt to one of the largest tax fraud cases uncovered in Israel in recent years, as the Ramla Magistrate's Court handed down a lengthy prison sentence and a heavy financial fine to Raed Shaar, convicted of deep involvement in a fuel industry criminal network. The case is part of a broad investigation codenamed "Star Born" by law enforcement, which involved the issuance and offsetting of fictitious tax invoices on a massive scale to evade state taxes.
According to the sentencing facts, Shaar teamed up with his ex-wife, Inas Shweiki, an accountant by profession, and together they played an active role in a fraud mechanism that operated unchecked for five years, between 2013 and 2018. The two served as an operational link creating and supplying false infrastructure for the network's leaders, including forged documents, shell companies, and fictitious identity cards covering non-existent fuel transactions.
At the top of the pyramid stood the primary defendants, Shlomo Jacobson and Zeev Schomain, accused of systematically issuing and deducting fictitious tax invoices totaling approximately 156 million shekels in tax liability. In exchange for the forged network and straw men, the leaders paid Shaar and his ex-wife a fixed commission of 30 agorot for every liter of fuel registered in the fabricated invoices, pocketing millions of shekels while inflicting severe economic damage on the state treasury.
Under a plea bargain, the parties jointly requested a 40-month prison sentence, while arguments regarding other penalties were left to the court. Ramla Magistrate's Court Vice President, Judge Dorit Saban Noy, adopted the agreement, sentencing Shaar to 40 months in prison, a fine of one million shekels, and a three-year suspended sentence for VAT offenses.
The case was prosecuted by attorneys Or Hadaya, Eitan Lamei, and Dvir Amar, and investigated thoroughly by the Tel Aviv Customs and VAT Investigations Department of the Israel Tax Authority.
