Israeli crime groups increasingly use Bitcoin, Tether for money laundering

When seven defendants, including members of classified IDF and police units, were indicted by Israeli authorities in April 2026 on charges of bribery, theft, and money laundering, the case had a distinctly modern twist. The alleged proceeds, exceeding 50 million NIS (roughly $13 million), weren’t stashed in Swiss bank accounts or hidden behind shell companies. They were laundered through cryptocurrencies. The case is part of a broader pattern that Israeli law enforcement has been scrambling to contain. Organized crime networks across the country are increasingly turning to Bitcoin and Tether (USDT) to move dirty money, finance drug deals, and obscure the paper trail that traditional banking would otherwise leave behind. The crypto laundering playbook Tether, the dollar-pegged stablecoin, has become particularly popular among these networks. Its price stability makes it more practical than Bitcoin for large-value transfers. In 2025, a robbery case in Herzliya illustrated just how embedded crypto has become in criminal operations. Assailants stole $650,000 worth of Bitcoin and Tether from a victim, then laundered the funds through exchanges including HTX and Kyrrex. Some Israeli orga...