Ravid Yosef, the elusive alleged fraudster and fertility industry entrepreneur who fled New York for Israel six years ago, is currently working for a London-based startup under an assumed name.
Six years ago, Yosef was charged with bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and was indicted by the Southern District of New York.
However, while two of her co-conspirators in the Crypto Capital Corp bank fraud have faced the charges against them and are serving prison time, Yosef managed to maintain a relatively normal lifestyle.
Indeed, since her decision to flee US law enforcement, she’s had a child, founded and closed an Israeli fertility startup called Embie, and become head of marketing for an IVF firm in London called Avenues.
Ironically, if Yosef had turned herself in in 2019, she’d likely already be out of prison.
From crypto shadow banker to hiding in plain site
Yosef, who now goes by the nom de guerre “Ravid Israel,” has appeared on numerous podcasts, often delving into her personal history and journey to becoming an IVF recipient and expert.
Noticeably absent from her retellings of the past, however, are details of her involvement with Crypto Capital Corp, her six-years on the run from law enforcement, and how she and her brother, Oz Yosef, lost access to $800 million that came principally from Bitfinex and Tether customers.
Instead, she claims, she moved to Israel for cheaper and more readily available IVF procedures.
Co-conspirators rot, Ravid thrives
One of the operators of Crypto Capital Corp, Ivan Manuel Molina Lee, was arrested in Poland in 2019 and found guilty.
Another, Reginald Fowler, is currently serving a 72-month sentence after pleading guilty to bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud in 2022.
Read more: Crypto fugitive Ravid Yosef’s app Embie is still available
Meanwhile, during this time, Yosef’s Embie went from strength to strength and in 2023, was selected by Google Africa’s Google for Startups Growth Academy: AI for Health to receive support and funding from the Microsoft AI for Good Accelerator.
It’s unclear why both Google and Microsoft were unable to ascertain that they were forking over funding and support to an international fugitive.
Protos reached out to Google and Microsoft for comment and will update the article if they respond.
Google for Startups blogpost featuring Ravid Israel (a.k.a. Ravid Yosef).Read more: Scoop: Crypto Capital Corp’s Ravid Yosef is flouting extradition in Israel
Protos plays a role
While Embie had been a struggling startup for years and more or less ceased to exist prior to Protos reporting in August, a noticeable change appeared on the website shortly after the publication of our August 25 story.
Embie’s website two days before and six days after Protos published an article on Yosef.In a brief blog post signed by “The Embie Team,” it states that “after five years of supporting women and couples on their fertility journey… we have made the very difficult decision to close the Embie app.”
No reason for the sudden decision to shut up shop is given, but timing suggests that the Protos article didn’t help.
What’s next for Ravid?
Protos reached out to Yosef’s current employer, Avenues, to ask if it was aware of her fugitive status or if it had interacted with her in-person.
We’ve not yet received a reply, though a telephone conversation suggested it was both unaware of Yosef’s status and concerned.
It’s a positive sign that finding Yosef has become easier due to her constant online presence, but a lack of due diligence from major global corporate brands and a lack of willingness to enforce laws by authorities in Israel and the US implies that she remains relatively safe… for now.
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Source: https://protos.com/800m-crypto-fugitive-ravid-yosef-working-at-uk-startup-under-new-name/
