DUBAI — Colombian authorities have arrested a 61-year-old Israeli man wanted in the United Arab Emirates on fraud charges, officials said, in an operation carried out jointly by Colombian police and Interpol, The Jerusalem Post reported.

The suspect, identified as Mikhael Mezrahi and known by the nickname “El Banquero,” or “The Banker,” was taken into custody at El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá.

Police said his detention followed an Interpol Red Notice issued against him. Some reports named him by his full name, Mikhael Jaime Shamis Mezrahi.

Colombian police said that Mezrahi is wanted by UAE authorities to serve a prison sentence for fraud, money laundering, forgery, and the use of falsified private documents.

Investigators say Mezrahi belonged to an international network that defrauded a bank identified as Khartoum in Dubai of roughly $16.7 million through fraudulent financial documents.

He was handed over to Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office as extradition proceedings moved forward.

Colombian news outlets reported that Mezrahi had landed in Bogotá on a flight from Madrid and was set to board a connecting flight to Venezuela when he was stopped.

He was reportedly carrying four passports from different nations. Besides Israeli and Mexican citizenship, he reportedly held Canadian and Lebanese citizenship as well.

Newspapers El Tiempo and Extra reported that a UAE court sentenced Mezrahi to five years in prison in November 2022. He then fled to Spain, where the National Court turned down an extradition request against him for several reasons.

Reports indicate Mezrahi built a wide range of business ventures, including securities firms in the United Kingdom along with real estate and tourism developments in Canada and Mexico.

He had also reportedly faced earlier investigations in Canada tied to drug trafficking. Investigators believe part of the fraud proceeds moved through a company under his ownership, WYB AG General Trading.

Col. Alver Vicente Alfonso Sanabria, head of Interpol’s investigation unit inside Colombia’s National Police, called the arrest a major win for international law enforcement cooperation.

“Mezrahi’s arrest is a significant result of the international police cooperation mechanisms led by Interpol’s National Central Bureau in Colombia,” Sanabria said, adding that the operation shows the country’s commitment to fighting transnational organized crime.

(With files from The Jerusalem Post)

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