Is he an Israeli businessman who was abducted by criminals, or himself a wanted criminal who has gone underground? The disappearance in Mexico of the Israeli businessman who calls himself Shai Golan is shrouded in mystery. Last week it was feared that the businessman, who operates stalls selling cosmetics in malls in the Mexican resort city of Cancun, had been kidnapped by Israeli rivals.
However, an investigation by Haaretz has revealed that Golan is an escaped convict who is wanted by the Los Angeles police and Canadian police for a long series of fraudulent acts. A detective in the Los Angeles Police Department told Haaretz that "this man is a master of fraud. He is certainly not an innocent man; he knows what he is doing."
The detective added: "It is possible that Golan has disappeared of his own free will for fear that he would be arrested by the authorities, or alternately that he was kidnapped after cheating 'the wrong person.'"
Last week, one of Golan's employees told Channel 2 news: "I spoke with Golan for 10 seconds. He told me he was on his way to arrange things at the mall. After about 10 seconds, I suddenly heard shots, five or six of them, and then shouting in Spanish and Hebrew, and since then his phone has been disconnected."
The employee expressed fear that Golan had been abducted by violent Israeli rivals of his.
However, from conversations with other Israeli businessmen in the Mexican town, a different picture emerges. Three Israeli companies operate stalls in Cancun malls. One sells products from the Dead Sea and the others sell cosmetics and appliances for straightening hair.
"He arrived here in December 2009 and gained control of the company that straightens hair," an Israeli worker said. "He began threatening the owners of the company and frightening the employees."
Another businessman said that Golan hired local thugs, who harassed the owners and workers at the company until they left and he could take over the business. "It started with words but quickly turned into a situation where the people he hired began shooting at the building in which the company's employees lived," he said. "Another time, they shot right into the workers' apartment."
In January 2009, the LAPD published a warning to the public regarding an Israeli residing illegally in Mexico under forged documents who goes by the name Shai Golan, or occasionally Shai Allaluf. According to the LAPD, he is wanted in the United States and Canada for a series of fraudulent crimes and forgeries on a large scale, and reportedly bribed his way to freedom from conviction on illegal arms dealing charges in 2008.
Ellen, the detective from the LAPD's economic crimes division who is in charge of the investigation, told Haaretz: "If indeed he was abducted, it is apparently because he met the wrong person and did the wrong things to him. That is to say, that he defrauded someone who did not agree to keep mum."
She said that "the man who calls himself Shai Golan" was arrested and charged in the U.S. in the past, but was released on bail and fled while awaiting trial.
"He is a criminal, he is not an innocent person," she said. "He knows what he is doing. He is very smart. He knows how to cheat and he defrauded a great many people. Detective Gibson, who dealt with his case, received telephone calls from people in other countries who told him that [Golan] is continuing to deceive people." She added that the LAPD published the warning since it is not allowed to act outside the borders of the U.S.
