Last update - 00:00 14/01/2008
Cops: Mistaken identity behind attacks on elderly millionaire
Police suspect that the recent targeting of a 72-year-old millionaire in Ramat Hasharon is a case of mistaken identity by underworld figures.
About a month ago, detectives came to the elderly man's home in Ramat Hasharon and were puzzled by the fact that he had reported that someone had thrown a stun grenade into his backyard. The situation only became more confusing when the detectives learned that two Mercedes sedans owned by the man had been targets of arson.
The victim of the attacks insisted that he had no enemies.
Now, police hypothesize that the incidents were part of a chain of mistakes made by underworld figures: It turns out that the man's son-in-law, the director of a successful firm, has the same family name as an underworld figure suspected of embezzling tens of millions of shekels.
Figures belonging to the "gray market," whose money was swindled, apparently concluded that the underworld figure is the brother of the son-in-law, and suspected that the elderly millionaire is also part of the scam. However, there is no connection between the family of the victim from Ramat Hasharon and the underworld figure.
Police became involved in the case in mid-December, when the grenade attack occured. Soon the detectives were convinced that the elderly man had no enemies. They also learned that his daughter was in the midst of a divorce from her husband, and that her father intervened and put a lien on their home.
The police interviewed the son-in-law, trying to find out if someone was after him, but concluded that this was not the case.
However, as detectives delved deeper in the investigation, they began hypothesizing that the son-in-law's last name is identical to that of an underworld figure who resides nearby, and owes millions to the gray-market thugs.
Further investigation revealed that indeed, some of the latter figures believed the son-in-law to be the brother of the underworld figure in their debt and also concluded that the elderly man was involved - under the assumption that the lien on the house was the result of a business deal.
In an effort to put an end to further attacks, police let it be known among underworld figures that this was a case of mistaken identity.