A Tel Aviv district court has ordered a snack bar owner to repay a 2.6 million shekel ($806,000) loan to his former brother-in-law, rejecting his claim that he had already repaid the debt by letting him place thousands of unpaid sports bets.
The lender, a shoe store owner, was once married to the sister of the borrower. In his April 2023 lawsuit, he claimed that beginning in 2016, he received two checks totaling 1.75 million shekels ($542,500) from his ex-brother-in-law as partial repayment, signed by the borrower’s sons as guarantors. A later check for 2.6 million shekels was also signed by one of the sons. However, the checks were never cashed because the lender was warned they would bounce. He instead turned to the court.
The borrower, described by the judge as a former police officer and experienced businessman who once ran a kiosk and owns seven apartments and a store, claimed the debt had been settled through alternative means. He argued that he had allowed his former brother-in-law to place unpaid Winner sports betting slips—worth 90,000 shekels ($27,900) a month—through his shop. Winner is a government-regulated Israeli sports betting service, similar to national lotteries or parimutuel betting in other countries.
Judge Naftali Shilo dismissed this defense, citing contradictions in the borrower’s statements. In court, he claimed the unpaid bets were worth 90,000 shekels monthly, but in a 2021 recorded conversation, he said it was only 5,000 shekels per month. The judge ruled that any such offsets were irrelevant, as the borrower had issued a check for the full 2.6 million shekels, implying he had already accounted for any prior repayment.
The borrower also claimed that his sons' signatures on the checks should not be considered legal guarantees. The court disagreed, stating that although the word “guarantor” wasn’t written, their intent was clear. One son was found liable for the full 2.6 million shekels, while the other was held liable for the 1.75 million shekel checks.
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Toto, Israel’s national sports betting authority, operates the Winner platform for sports wagers
(Photo: Oren Aharoni)
In a final attempt to evade responsibility, the borrower argued he had signed the higher-value check under family pressure to maintain peace. The judge rejected that claim, saying an experienced businessman would not issue such a large check unless he believed the debt was real. Multiple prior admissions by the borrower, including a recorded conversation where he agreed the debt stood at 2.6 million shekels, further strengthened the case against him.
As a result, the court ordered the borrower and one son to pay 2.6 million shekels to the lender. The second son was ordered to pay 1.75 million shekels. All three were also ordered to pay legal fees and court costs totaling 100,000 shekels ($31,000).