Jerusalem - In an attempt to convince other victims of the alleged blackmail scheme to go public with their stories, Israeli police is taking steps to shut down beleaguered Israeli news site B'Chadrei Chareidim.
''Closing the site will likely encourage hundreds more people to come forward,'' Commander Niso Shaham of the Jerusalem District Police told Israel National News. ''People were held hostage by those who committed this grievous act and we hope that once the site is no longer in operation, the dam will burst and people will be free to tell their stories without fears of receiving negative press from B'Chadrei Chareidim.''
The number of arrests in the case has risen to five, with another senior official taken into custody yesterday but released to house arrest and police continue their investigations into what is appearing to be Israel's largest blackmail case. To date, eight people have made allegations of blackmail and extortion against B'Chadrei Chareidim and police say that they are in possession of evidence that support the claims being made, which includes video of a member of the site attempting to extort money from a potential victim.
In Magistrate's Court Judge Tamar Bar Asher Tzivin ruled that the owner of the site will be spending Pesach in jail and not be released until Wednesday, saying that B'Chadrei Chareidim has evolved from a news site to a massive blackmail machine that took in millions of shekalim over the past two years.
Judge Tzivin had removed the gag order which prevented the names of the suspects from being released today at the request of Channel 2 News, but the order was put back in place at the request of the lawyer of B'Chadrei Chareidim's owner. 
