Couple Accused of International Kidnapping Surrender in Red Bank

A Lakewood couple authorities say kidnapped an Israeli citizen living in the United States in an attempt to coerce his consent to divorce his Israeli wife surrendered to special agents of the FBI in Red Bank, the U.S. District Court announced Monday morning.

David Wax, 49, and Judy Wax, 47, are both charged with kidnapping. David Wax is also charged with making a threat by phone to the victim’s father, according to U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman.

The story, its details gleaned from a complaint unsealed Monday, began with a contested divorce between the unidentified victim and his wife that includes issues related to child custody in a Rabbinical Court in Israel. According to court documents, the victim, who currently lives in New York, refused to give his consent for the divorce, preventing his wife from remarrying.

On the night of Oct. 16, 2010, the complaint reads, the victim was called to the Wax’s home to discuss work. The victim was taken upstairs where he was beaten, robbed, handcuffed, blindfolded, and his legs and arms bound. During the attack, which lasted several hours, the victim was forced to consent to divorce under threat for his life, the court alleges.

After the attack, David Wax and the victim drive to an ATM in a cab where Wax made the victim call his father in Israel, the court alleges. Wax warned the victim’s father that he and the victim would be killed if the father did not pay $100,000 to the family of the victim’s former wife.

Eventually, Wax and the victim, in a vehicle driven by Judy Wax, drove to Brooklyn, NY, to drop the victim off where again David Wax allegedly threatened the victim and his father’s life.

If convicted, the defendants could face a maximum of life in prison. The additional charge against David Wax carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to the court.

According to a release, Fishman credited the FBI’s Red Bank Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward in Newark, and the Lakewood Police Department, under the direction of Chief Robert Lawson, with the investigation leading to the arrests and charges.

The defendants are scheduled to appear this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas Arpert in Trenton federal court.