World of Secrets – The Child Cancer Scam

Episode 5: The Agency
BBC Podcast | Hosted by Simi Jalo Osho | Air Date: December 29, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode continues the BBC’s investigation into fraudulent child cancer crowdfunding schemes, focusing on the elusive charity Chancellor Tikva (“Chance for Hope”), its hidden operations in Israel, and its connections to a slick digital agency, Turbo Digital. Through on-the-ground reporting, interviews, and database sleuthing, the team reveals how aggressive marketing, shadowy organizations, and lax oversight enable a conveyor belt of scams that exploit families in crisis—while millions in donations vanish.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Searching for Chancellor Tikva: A Hidden Charity

• Field Investigation: Host Simi Jalo Osho and Israeli journalist Tom Tsu Weiswelder travel to Bet Shemesh to locate Chancellor Tikva’s registered office, as listed on charity records and their website.
  • The address leads to a residential area in a tight-knit Orthodox Jewish community ([01:13–03:13]).
  • No evidence of an office or organization at the address—none of the mailboxes are labeled, and residents are unaware of Chancellor Tikva ([03:20–03:43]).
• Confrontation: Simi and Tom are approached by men who become hostile, telling them to leave under threat while one apparently calls for backup.
  • “He threatened us now. He said, if you don't want to be a mess, you're going to go.” – Tom ([05:00])
  • The journalists leave, fearing for their safety.

2. The Role of Turbo Digital

• Agency Connection: Chancellor Tikva’s videos feature a flame-shaped logo linking to Turbo Digital, a Jerusalem-based marketing agency specializing in emotional crowdfunding campaigns ([07:19]).
• Inside Turbo Digital:
  • Director Shulamit Seagal Zlotsky ("Shuli") describes her approach:
    • “People today are incredibly smart, including donors. They know when something's real. If it's authentic, they'll give. If it feels off, they won't.” – Shuli ([07:19])
    • She describes sitting with families herself to capture authentic tearful stories [07:53–08:22].
• Campaigns and Missing Funds: Simi discovers that families featured in viral Turbo Digital/Chancellor Tikva campaigns—like Hector’s family in Mexico—never received the funds raised ([08:40]).

3. Tracking the Money: Domains and Direct Links

• Domain Investigations: Jack Goodman ties the “Chance for Hope” web domain (used on campaign sites) directly to Shulamit Seagal Zlotsky via public record ([09:37–10:12]).
• Direct Evidence: Donation buttons for Khalil’s campaign on a crowdfunding page link straight to a “Chance for Hope” site registered by Shulamit.

4. Unethical Film-Making Tactics

• Former Media and Family Testimonies:
  • Shulamit boasts in press interviews of having earned “300,000 shekels a day in one campaign” ([11:26]) and of the ease of making money.
  • Accusations of staging and coaching mothers to exaggerate their children’s suffering for the camera:
    • “They asked that I say that Olesa was dying and that we desperately needed money. And they said, cry. Then they told me, not like that. You need to cry louder.” – Oksana ([12:28])
    • "They told me to say things like, the child is feeling very unwell, she is dying, and money is needed urgently." – Natalia ([13:46])
  • After filming, families receive little or none of the donations, with “production costs” cited as the reason. Natalia’s campaign raised $66,000, none of which she saw ([14:42]).

5. Turbo Digital's Response

• Shulamit declines to speak directly, issuing a statement that all productions are done with family approval and sensitivity ([16:02]).
• Denies involvement in fundraising money management or misconduct, claiming they only edited existing Chancellor Tikva content and have since cut ties ([16:19]).
• Attributes lingering campaign listings on Turbo’s website to oversight, promising their removal ([16:51]).

6. Regulatory Blind Spots in Israel

• Interview: El Globus (Former head of the Israeli Corporations Authority) explains the limits of charity oversight:
  • Confirms that misdirecting donor money for other purposes is illegal ([19:19–20:00]).
  • Regulation is mainly reactive; authorities act on complaints and do not routinely verify charity office addresses ([20:36]).
  • Highlights “shapeshifting” nature of fraudulent NGOs that restart under new names/self-reinvention ([21:26], [22:17]).

7. The Scamming Network Evolves

• New linked organizations (The Little Angels, St. Teresa, St. Raphael) appear as older ones are shut down or exposed ([22:49]).
• Patterns in campaign videos reveal they’re being staged in the same clinics, notably in Ukraine’s Engelholm/Angelholm Clinic ([23:20–23:58]).
• Parents typically are given small amounts—$2,000—while much larger sums are raised and never transferred ([24:20]).

8. Clinic and Individual Responses

• Engelholm Clinic denies knowledge or approval of any fundraising filmed on its premises and terminates implicated employee Tetiana Haliyavka ([25:46]).
• Tetiana does not respond to requests for comment despite evidence connecting her to the outreach and filming.

9. Families Confront the Orchestrators

• Filipino mother Algin tries to confront Erez Hadari (an implicated organizer) about her son Khalil’s campaign, which is still raising donations posthumously ([26:03–29:14]).
  • She suspects the money is being pocketed and used for further schemes, expressing anger and the need for justice.
  • Erez ultimately does not answer her call, setting up a dramatic moment for the next episode ([29:39]).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On community secrecy:
  “Things that are going on inside the community a lot of times doesn’t go out to the general public.”
  —Tom Tsu Weiswelder ([02:39])

• On staged appeals:
  “They said, cry. Then they told me, not like that. You need to cry louder.”
  —Oksana ([12:28])

• On not receiving donations:
  “I just sat and cried because I didn’t understand what kind of madness was going on.”
  —Natalia ([14:33])

• On easy fundraising:
  “Sometimes I go to bed, wake up in the morning, and the campaign has raised another quarter of a million online. It’s hard to sleep like that.”
  —Shulamit Seagal Zlotsky ([11:26])

• On legal implications:
  “If they’re taking their money, the money that they raised to a sick child, to their pocket, it’s like stealing money. It’s really wrong.”
  —El Globus ([20:21])

• On regulatory limitations:
  “The problem is that an NGO can operate, and even if we shut it down, then it can open another NGO and start over again.”
  —El Globus ([21:26])

• On the emotional toll for families:
  “It’s very important to get justice for Khalil. I think he used the money for himself to travel around and con other people.”
  —Algin ([29:14])

Important Segment Timestamps

• 01:13–03:43: Searching for Chancellor Tikva’s address in Bet Shemesh
• 05:00–05:38: Journalists are threatened and forced to leave
• 07:19–08:40: Introduction to Turbo Digital and their marketing methods
• 09:37–10:12: Linking “Chance for Hope” domain to Shulamit Seagal Zlotsky
• 12:28–14:33: Testimonies from mothers about being coached for fundraising videos
• 16:02–16:51: Turbo Digital's official response
• 19:19–21:26: El Globus on charity fraud and oversight in Israel
• 22:49–24:20: Evolution and proliferation of linked charity names and campaigns
• 25:46–26:03: Engelholm Clinic’s response and dismissal of staff
• 26:03–29:39: Algin tries to confront Erez; lead-in to next episode

Tone & Style

The episode maintains an investigative, empathetic tone throughout, balancing hard-hitting exposure of fraud with compassion for the families affected. The reporting is meticulous but maintains a sense of urgency and outrage as Simi and her colleagues uncover hurtful manipulations of hope and suffering.

Key Takeaways

• BBC’s probe reveals a tightly controlled, evasive network behind supposed child cancer charities, adept at masking operations and evading both journalists and regulators.
• Turbo Digital’s emotional video campaigns are central to driving donations, but the families depicted consistently receive little to none of the money.
• The organizations systematically exploit legal loopholes and regulatory weaknesses, easily rebranding as soon as scrutiny mounts.
• Affected families are left traumatized and impoverished, while organizers like Shulamit Seagal Zlotsky and Erez Hadari maintain distance or deny wrongdoing.
• More revelations and dramatic confrontations are expected in the next—and final—episode of this series.