Fugitive Israeli murderer flees Argentina
Convicted of killing taxi driver Derek Roth as a teenager, Moshe Ben Ivgi fled to South America while on furlough from prison and so far has managed to avoid extradition. Now he is on the run again
Ben-Ivgi fled Israel while on furlough from prison in 2004. At the age of 15 he was sentenced to 16 years in prison for the murder, but that original sentence was extended by five years after Ben-Ivgi and Aloni robbed two convenience stores during a furlough.
Israel has been petitioning for Ben-Ivgi's extradition on both murder and a grand larceny charges since he resurfaced there. Israel and Argentina do not have an extradition agreement. However Argentinean law a person can only be tried as an adult from the age of 16, and as Ben-Ivgi committed the murder at the age of 14 he could not be held criminally responsible for it.
An attorney for the Roth family, Dr. Nissan Sharifi, told Ynet that the legal team had been informed that Ben-Ivgi is no longer in the South American country by an official source. We will continue to track down Ben-Ivgi and we will not rest until he is behind bars in Israel and serves his sentence in full," Sharifi said.
The Justice Ministry confirmed on Wednesday evening that it has received unofficial information regarding Ben-Ivgi's escape.
"The State Prosecution and Israeli Police have and will continue to make every effort to have Ben-Ivgi extradited to Israel to serve the remainder of his prison sentence. To this end the State of Israel has hired the services of a prominent Argentinean attorney to represent its case in the extradition proceedings.
These proceedings are now in the final stretch as the Argentinean High Court finishes debating Ben-Ivgi's appeal and the appeals of the Argentinean authorities and the State of Israel over the initial ruling that he would be extradited to Israel on the robbery charges alone," the Justice Ministry said.
"The Israeli authorities have made clear on numerous occasions to the Argentinean authorities that Ben-Ivgi is an extremely dangerous individual who is a genuine flight risk. Unfortunately, the authorities there decided to release him on bail."
After being released on bail in 2007 by an Argentinean court, Ben-Ivgi has essentially been a free man. A recent article about him in Yedioth Aharonoth revealed that he has changed his name to Moshe Sagiv, married an Israeli woman named Ophira and recently became a father to a baby girl. The family lives in one of the busiest areas of Buenos Aires, where Ben-Ivgi works as a branch manager.
