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Shabtay Yaacoby, 56, an Israeli man convicted of laundering over $50 million in scam funds through Blue Star Exchange, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison by NSW District Court Judge Averre. This is the longest sentence ever for money laundering in Australia. Despite Yaacoby's claims of mental health issues and a traumatic past, including his role during the Bondi massacre, the court found these factors did not lessen the severity of his crimes or impact his ability to plan them. The victims will receive reparations under an order issued by Justice Averre.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-17,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Shabtay Yaacoby, an Israeli national and director of Blue Star Exchange, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison by the NSW District Court for his role in laundering more than $50 million from scam victims. This is the longest sentence ever given for money laundering in Australia. Justice Averre noted that Yaacoby played a "leading role" in the criminal enterprise and rejected claims of mental incapacity affecting his ability to commit the crimes. Out of 39 victims who testified at the trial, one man from New South Wales reported losing around $4 million from his superannuation fund sent to Blue Star Exchange under false pretenses of a high-interest term deposit. Yaacoby will be eligible for parole in January 2035.
Written for “Israeli Money Laundering Case” on 2026-09-17,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 15395 · logged 2026-09-17
In short:
Shabtay Yaacoby has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for laundering more than $50 million of scam funds.
asserted
Yaacoby → sentence → funds
An Israeli man has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for laundering more than $50 million of scam funds.
asserted
man → sentence → funds
Justice Averre handed down the sentence in the NSW District Court today, saying Yaacoby had played a "leading role" in a criminal enterprise.
asserted
Yaacoby → hand → enterprise
Yaacoby was a director and shareholder of licensed digital currency exchange Blue Star Exchange, which purportedly allowed customers to buy and sell cryptocurrencies.
asserted
customers → allow → cryptocurrencies
One New South Wales man testified that he was scammed out of about $4 million from the superannuation fund he shared with his wife.
asserted
he → testify → wife
He had sent the money to Blue Star Exchange, believing he was putting it into a high-interest term deposit.
asserted
he → send → deposit
The man was one of 39 victims who testified at the trial.
asserted
who → testify → trial
Each of them had sent money to Blue Star Exchange, or other businesses linked to Yaacoby, for purported investments, which they later realised were fraudulent.
asserted
they → send → investments
In May, Yaacoby was found guilty of money laundering after a 13-week jury trial.
uncertain
Yaacoby → find → trial
His offending was "not isolated" and was "persistent", the judge said.
asserted
judge → isolate → ?
While Yaacoby was not involved in the scamming itself, he was knowingly working with the fraudsters to move the stolen money out of Australia.
asserted
he → involve → Australia
He was arrested while visiting Sydney in November 2023.
asserted
He → arrest → November
The court heard he was in Australia to attempt to unfreeze multiple bank accounts related to his business.
asserted
he → hear → business
Troubled life not relevant to seriousness of crimes
The court heard that Yaacoby had played a "heroic" role during the Bondi massacre, while on bail awaiting his trial late last year.
asserted
Yaacoby → hear → trial
Yaacoby reported to a psychologist that he used his body to shield the 10-year-old child of a Rabbi during the terror attack, having lost sight of his wife in the chaos.
asserted
he → report → chaos
This experience, combined with a history of sexual abuse and experiencing armed combat as a young man in the Israeli Defence Force, led to a diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
asserted
experience → combine → disorder
Yaacoby also suffered from "cocaine-induced psychosis" during and after his period of offending, after starting to use the drug in his late forties, the court heard.
asserted
court → suffer → forties
Justice Averre found that Yaacoby's mental health was not a factor in the seriousness of the offending, as it did not affect his ability to plan or understand his crimes, and noted that there had been no reparation offers made to the victims by the offender.
asserted
it → find → offender
In his sentencing, Justice Averre instituted a reparations order for the victims.
asserted
Averre → institute → victims
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