A man carrying four passports stepped off a flight from Madrid at El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, apparently on his way to Venezuela. Colombian police and Interpol were waiting. The 61-year-old Israeli national, known as “El Banquero” (“The Banker”), is Mikhael Mezrahi, also identified in reports as Mikhael Jaime Shamis Mezrahi. He was detained on an Interpol Red Notice issued at the request of the United Arab Emirates.
The fraud
The UAE wants him to serve a sentence for fraud, money laundering, forgery and use of falsified private documents. Investigators link him to a network that defrauded the Bank of Khartoum in Dubai of about 61.44 million dirhams, roughly $16.7 million.
Colombian police described how it worked in a communique: the group presented itself as high-profile investors and representatives of legitimate commercial projects, using bank guarantees, contracts and false financial documentation. Members staged meetings and simulations to look credible before funds moved to companies tied to Mezrahi, including WYB AG General Trading, reportedly owned by him, and others such as Art Lawyers. Later, police say, the group used false transfer orders to buy time while the money went abroad.
Passports and a Spanish court
Colombian media reported that the passports came from Israel, Mexico, Canada and Lebanon. El Tiempo and Extra reported that a UAE court sentenced him to five years in prison in November 2022. He then went to Spain, where the National Court rejected an extradition request on various grounds.
Reports also describe securities companies in the United Kingdom and real estate and tourism projects in Canada and Mexico. He was reportedly the subject of earlier drug trafficking investigations in Canada.
What happens now
Col. Alver Vicente Alfonso Sanabria, director of the Interpol investigation unit within Colombia’s National Police, called the arrest a success for international cooperation. “Mezrahi’s arrest is a significant result of the international police cooperation mechanisms led by Interpol’s National Central Bureau in Colombia,” he said, adding that it “demonstrates the country’s commitment to combating transnational organized crime.”
Mezrahi is now at the disposal of Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office while diplomatic and judicial proceedings on his extradition to the UAE go forward.
Sources
- Israeli national wanted in $16.7 million Dubai fraud case arrested in Colombia | The Jerusalem Post
- ‘Israeli’ man arrested over $16.7 million Dubai dank fraud
- Israeli national wanted in $16.7 million Dubai fraud case arrested in Colombia | The Jerusalem Post
Photo: EFE (CC BY-SA 4.0)
