Israeli Couple Sold Their Baby to Pay Off Gambling Debts

An Israeli couple sold their baby for $26,000 as a way to pay off a portion of their $500,000 gambling debt.

In bizarre Israel gambling news, a young couple from Jerusalem were arrested after their sold their baby to an undercover police officer as a means to pay off some of their $500,000 gambling debt. The police had initially launched an investigation into the case last week, when they had been tipped off that a couple were advertising their three-month-old daughter as for sale, with an asking price of 100,000 shekels ($26,000).

Following the arrest, the baby was immediately taken into custody, and is now in the care of Jerusalem municipal welfare workers.

Couple sold their baby, asked for a down payment

After having learned of this severe breach of Israeli gambling laws and Israeli laws in general, an undercover cop contacted and met with the couple several times under the guise of being a potential customer. They tried to persuade the officer that the baby girl was both healthy and vaccinated, though a later physical exam showed that was she was neither.

The wife even tried to accelerate the price of her daughter by telling the officer that there was another couple interested in buying the baby. A subsequent investigation by police showed that there were no other potential customers.

The couple sold their baby to the police officer after he made a deposit of 5,000 shekels ($1,288). Upon being handed the infant, the mother and father were immediately arrested on charges of human trafficking, trafficking of a minor, and child neglect. They’ve since begun fighting these charges, saying that the whole thing was a scam to make some quick cash and that they had no intention of actually selling their daughter.