
FILE – In this July 16, 2019 file photo, Lee Elbaz arrives at federal court for jury selection in her trial in Greenbelt, Md. A federal jury on Thursday, Aug. 1, is getting the case against an Elbaz charged with orchestrating a scheme to defraud tens of thousands of investors out of tens of millions of dollars. Elbaz is charged with three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — A federal jury in Maryland will soon begin deliberating in the case against an Israeli woman charged with orchestrating a scheme to defraud tens of thousands of investors out of tens of millions of dollars.
Jurors are expected to hear closing arguments Thursday in the trial of 38-year-old Lee Elbaz before deliberations begin. Elbaz is charged with three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Elbaz was CEO of Israel-based Yukom Communications. Prosecutors said she trained employees to dupe investors through the sale and marketing of financial instruments known as “binary options.”
A defense attorney said Elbaz did not condone the fraudulent tactics used by employees who worked under her supervision.
FBI agents arrested Elbaz in 2017 after she traveled to New York.
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