Cryptocurrency trading under scrutiny as two Israelis face multimillion-dollar tax evasion probes

Two Israelis face separate investigations into suspected cryptocurrency tax evasion involving millions of dollars, with authorities seizing digital wallets, foreign currency, and a luxury car.

Israel police arrested a suspect in tax and money-laundering offenses linked to cryptocurrency trading worth tens of millions of dollars, and the Haifa Magistrate's Court extended his detention by six days on Tuesday.

Deputy Court President Judge Michal Davidi ordered the extension of Adiel Miost's detention with the consent of his defense attorney, Uri Goldman, and in the presence of police representative Chief Inspector Perry Goldman and Tax Authority investigators Ilan Hirschberg and Amit Keren.

Miost was arrested as part of a joint investigation by the Tax Authority's Haifa Investigations Assessing Office and the Coastal Economic Crimes Unit of Lahav 433.

According to investigators, Miost allegedly traded cryptocurrencies on various exchanges without reporting his activities to the Tax Authority, omitting income from his personal tax returns to evade paying taxes.

He is also suspected of holding undeclared foreign bank accounts and using another person's bank account to conceal his activities and the funds generated from them.

Luxury vehicle, foreign currency seized in investigation

The Tax Authority said searches conducted during the investigation led to the seizure of substantial amounts of foreign currency and a luxury vehicle allegedly registered in another person's name to conceal Miost's assets.

Miost is scheduled to appear before a judge again on Sunday, unless he is released earlier. The investigation remains ongoing.

The case is part of a series of investigations into suspected tax evasion and money laundering involving millions of shekels through cryptocurrencies. The cases were developed by the cryptocurrency department at the Tax Authority's Investigations Intelligence Headquarters.

Ashdod businessman suspected of concealing $13 million in cryptocurrency income

In a separate case, the Tax Authority arrested Alexander Pochinsky, an Ashdod resident who manages a staffing company in which he is a partner, on suspicion of failing to report approximately $13 million in income from cryptocurrency trading.

At the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court on Tuesday, Judge Hagit Plaut Babad ordered his release under stringent financial guarantees, following a request by Yaniv Shitrit, deputy head of the Jerusalem Tax Investigations Assessing Office.

The conditions included a personal undertaking of NIS 500,000, a NIS 200,000 guarantee provided by his wife and a cash deposit of NIS 50,000.

Pochinsky was also required to surrender his passport and was barred from leaving Israel for six months.

According to investigators, Pochinsky began trading cryptocurrencies in 2019 using various digital wallets.

During the investigation, authorities obtained identification documents from cryptocurrency exchange Binance linking him to an account that conducted extensive trading activity between 2019 and 2021 through wallets he owned.

Investigators also suspect that funds transferred from his exchange account ultimately reached additional digital wallets after passing through several wallets under his control, allegedly to conceal the money.

Searches conducted at Pochinsky's home resulted in the seizure of computer materials and digital wallets.

An analysis of the seized computer materials also revealed an additional digital wallet address.