Convicted fraudster Eran Eyal deported to Israel

SA entrepreneur and Springleap and Shopin founder Eran Eyal who was convicted in December of defrauding investors of millions of dollars, has been deported from the US, to Israel.

Eyal, 45, who has joint Israeli-South African citizenship, was convicted in December of operating a series of three securities fraud schemes, including a $42.5-million fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO) run by his cryptocurrency startup Shopin (see this story).

It comes after he was charged in August 2018 of stealing $600 000 from four Springleap investors.

In his sentencing on 26 February, which Ventureburn attended, Eyal was told by Judge Danny K Chun that he would have 48 hours to leave the US when the US’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) decided to release him.

Eran Eyal, who was convicted in 2019 of operating three securities fraud schemes, has been deported to Israel

An official from ICE told Ventureburn in an email last week, that Eyal had been removed from the US to Israel on 18 May.

ICE said Eyal was admitted to the US at New York, New York State, as a non-immigrant on 22 July 2018, with authorisation to remain in the US for a temporary period not to exceed 22 June 2019.

“Eyal remained in the US without authorisation and failed to depart in accordance with the terms of his admission. He has three felony convictions from December 2019 for committing financial crimes.

“On 10 December 2019, officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) placed an immigration detainer on Eyal while booked at New York Police Department’s Brooklyn Central for local charges; however the immigration detainer was not honoured and Eyal was released back into the community.

“On 20 February 2020, Officers with ERO New York’s Fugitive Operations Team arrested Eyal in Brooklyn, New York and he was taken into ICE custody.

“ICE removed Eyal from the United States on May 18, 2020,” said the official.

When Ventureburn enquired about why he was removed to Israel, and not South Africa where he lived before moving to began visiting the US on and off from 2012, the ICE official said Eyal was removed to Israel based on an immigration judge’s order.

An immigration judge will ask an alien to designate the country to which they would prefer to be removed. Eyal elected to be deported to Israel.

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment, when asked by Ventureburn to confirm whether Eyal had indeed been deported to Israel.

“As a matter of rule and in order to protect citizens’ right to privacy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not disclose information relating to Israeli citizens. Therefore, we could only confirm that Mr Eyal is currently in Israel. We could not elaborate further,” Dorit Herscovich, the ministry’s deputy spokesperson said in an email.

Ventureburn also sought comment from both the Israeli consulate in New York and as well as Eyal himself, to confirm his deportation, but both did not comment by the time this article was published.

Read more: Convicted fraudster, SA entrepreneur Eran Eyal now faces deportation from US
Read more: Controversial or not, these SA entrepreneurs launched or invested in a startup this year [Updated]
Read more: SA entrepreneur Eran Eyal convicted in US over fraudulent Shopin ICO, Springleap startup
Read more: Eran Eyal disappears from social media after new fraud charges laid by SEC over $42m Shopin ICO [Updated]
Read more: Fraud-accused Eran Eyal offering three immigrant students scholarships at $3600 each
Read more: Fraud-accused Eran Eyal offers ‘reimbursement’ to media that remove articles
Read more: Former Springleap MD’s startup BigTeam raises investment from Mailchimp
Read more: I spent thousands of hours, last dollar to save former company says Eran Eyal
Read more: Questions surround involvement of Eran Eyal’s former partner in Shopin pilots
Read more: Stop misrepresenting us as Shopin investor unicorn ZocDoc tells Eran Eyal
Read more: Eran Eyal lied about existence of Springleap advisory board – UK investor
Read more: Former Springleap founder Eran Eyal named as ‘co-CEO’ of Shopin
Read more: Springleap’s Eran Eyal misrepresented me as Shopin adviser – Vinny Lingham
Read more: BREAKING: I am innocent of malicious allegations says Springleap’s Eran Eyal
Read more: BREAKING: Springleap’s Eran Eyal released from US prison, posts $250k bail
Read more: Are these the messages Springleap’s Eran Eyal sent to investors for funding?
Read more: Springleap’s Eran Eyal removed as CEO of Shopin and replaced with interim head [Updated]
Read more: Springleap’s Eran Eyal did not seem like scammer to me – DocuSign founder
Read more: Charges against Springleap founder not first time Eran Eyal’s in trouble with law [Updated]
Read more: Investor gatvol over losing R8.5m to Springleap through ‘misrepresentation’
Read more: Springleap charges: Are claims as world’s 7th most innovative firm a fabrication? [Updated]
Read more: SA entrepreneur Eran Eyal charged with fraud in the US over startup Springleap
Read more: Springleap’s Trevor Wolfe talks agencies, startups, and pivots [Q&A]
Read more: Springleap’s new Creatives Insights platform helps brands expand to foreign markets
Read more: Springleap goes big: expands into Middle Eastern, pan-African markets
Read more: SA crowdsource design startup Springleap secures R4m+ Angel round
Read more: Life after t-shirts: Ventureburn gets the exclusive behind Springleap’s pivot

Editor’s note (9 June 2020): Subsequent to publication, this article was updated with a comment from Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Featured image: US based SA entrepreneur Eran Eyal (via Facebook)