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Tel Aviv, Israel - Seven British Jews allege that millions of shekels they lent to Israeli developers for the construction of a residential project in Yeruham for haredim was stolen.

The seven people filed a NIS 9 million lawsuit with the Tel Aviv District Court against Adv. Zion Barel, the trustee and sole authorized signatory on a bank account in which the petitioners' money was deposited.

They have also sued Israel Abramov, the CEO of Forum Architects and Town Planners Ltd., of Ramat Gan.

The petitioners claim that Shalem Building Project Developers for the Welfare of the Haredi Public Ltd., managed by Rabbi Menachem Blumenthal, Eretz Hakodesh SMSM Ltd., and Forum Architects and Town Planners obtained loans from them for the project, which were guaranteed by Barel, who is the registered shareholder of Forum Architects and Town Planners and its sole director.

The petitioners claim that the project collapsed when then-Yeruham Local Planning and Building Commission chairman Amram Mitzna objected to the plan, and the contractor hired by the developers did not pay the Israel Land Administration (ILA) the money for winning the tender, which the ILA then cancelled.

The petitioners later learned that Barel and Abramov swindled them, by stealing the NIS 9 million for the project by using it for illegal purposes.

The petitioners claim that the trustee's account, which was opened on their behalf, and managed by Barel, was emptied by the respondents. The petitioners discovered this when they asked him for a bank statement for the account, which he refused to do for what they felt were unacceptable reasons, in other words, fraud.

No statement of defense has yet been filed.

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