Israeli Crime Boss Found Shot in Head at Home: Family Ran Gambling Biz

The head of the Netanya crime family in Israel, Charlie Abutbul, has died after being found shot in the head.  Abutbul succumbed to his injuries after arriving at the hospital. Police have not yet determined whether the gunshot wound was the result of a suicide or homicide.

In recent years, senior members of the family have either been sent to prison or were assassinated, including a nephew, Francois Abutbul, who was killed in July 2011.

Abutbul’s own brother was murdered in Prague in 2002.  Felix Abutbul gained fame in the 1980s for the attempted kidnapping of a Nigerian cabinet minister.  He served six years in Great Britain for that crime.

Felix returned to Israel where he gained a foothold in the local gambling-club industry.

The family has been embroiled in conflict over the years.  

Charlie Abutbul just finished serving house arrest for the kidnapping of a yeshiva student suspected of robbing associates of the family.

- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com