Camp Blue Star, Mohawk owners default on Israeli bond deal

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The owners of Camp Blue Star, Mohawk Day Camp and dozens of other summer camps across the Northeast revealed they defaulted on payments to Israeli bondholders and transferred $34 million to companies they control.

Michael and David Shabsels closed a $195 million bond deal in December. They own about 30 American sleepaway and day camps, making them a large player in a fragmented industry. In addition to Camp Blue Star, in North Carolina, and Mohawk, in White Plains, New York, their empire spans Kiwi Country Day Camp in New York, Camp North Star in Maine, Chen-a-Wanda Camp in Pennsylvania, and Willow Lake Day Camp in New Jersey. An appraiser valued the portfolio at $466.6 million, with a projected cap rate of about 10.5 percent for 2025, according to a document included with the bond offering.

In December, the Shabselses, who are brothers, turned to the Israeli bond market to finance their sprawling business, Simad Holdings, which is based in the British Virgin Islands. In total, the company owned 80 assets, including office and retail properties, according to a company presentation in late 2025. The brothers live in Scarsdale and Westhampton.

Then, in late May, Simad notified the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange about a problem: It had missed its payment to bondholders and disclosed the $34 million transfer to the Shabsels brothers’ companies, according to Globes and filings on the stock exchange. Simad claimed the transfer was inadvertent.

Simad’s audit committee asked the Shabsels to return the money. They agreed, but days later Michael Shabsels said they were unable to do so.

The news, first reported by Israeli business publications Globes and Calcalist, sent Simad’s bonds to junk status before the Israeli stock exchange halted trading.

Typically, when corporations miss payments to their bondholder on secured debt, the bondholders can attempt to seize the properties.

Simad also disclosed on the Israeli bond market that the Shabselses took out financial obligations which were “secured on the assets and cash flows of the company’s subsidiaries,” according to Globes. In other words, the Shabselses possibly took out loans and double pledged assets, leading to questions about whether the bondholders can seize assets — that is, the 13 camps.

Michael and David Shabsels did not return requests to comment.

Financializing summer

The two Shabsels started buying camps in 2006. They usually create two companies, one for the land and one for the camp itself. Sometimes, original owners stay on as partners.

But they have stayed out of the public eye despite their camps’ prominence among families who spend thousands of dollars on their programs each summer. Some of the camps are denominational and cater to Jewish families.

Last October, Simad laid out its bond offering in a 22-page presentation filled with images of waterslides, ropes courses, white-capped lakes and smiling children.

The bonds offered a 7 percent interest payment to bondholders. Israeli ratings agency Midroog gave them an investment-grade rating.

InFin Capital, led by CEO Yehonatan Cohen, underwrote the $195 million bond offering. InFin has advised American firms, including Related Companies, on TASE offerings for a decade. About $100 million was to be used to acquire assets from the controlling shareholders and repay loans for which David and Michael Shabsels had provided personal guarantees. The rest of the proceeds was supposed to be used to acquire properties.

The December offering was secured by 13 of the camps: Camp Achim, Chen-A-Wanda, Club Getaway, Country Roads Day Camp, Eagles Landing, Echo, Green Lane, Malka, Lavi, Meadowbrook, SHMA Camps (Mogen Avraham Heller, Avraham Chaim Heller, and Sternberg and Anna Heller), Mohawk and Rolling Hills Day Camp, according to Israeli ratings agency Midroog. The bondholders were supposed to have a first lien on the camps.

The Israeli business press noted that summer camps were an unusual asset, compared to office or multifamily.

Still, prominent Israeli institutions, including More Investment House, Meitav and Migdal Capital Markets, bought the bonds, Globes reported.

This is not the first time the Shabsels have faced allegations of wrongdoing about their business dealings.

In one dispute, New York State court, owners of Kiwi Country Day Camp in Carmel, New York, filed suit against the Shabsels brothers in 2021, alleging the Shabselses engaged in a hostile takeover of the camp. Karla and Ivan Bellotto alleged they went into partnership with the brothers, who wrongfully sought to dilute the Bellottos’ stake. The Shabselses allegedly refinanced the property but only distributed proceeds to themselves and refused to hand over the books and records.

The case is still pending. It went to trial for five days last summer, but the Shabsels brothers fired their counsel during the middle of the trial, according to court filings. The trial resumed in May.

The pair faced a similar lawsuit from a part owner at Camp Lavco in Lakewood, Pennsylvania, who alleged the Shabselses attempted to dilute his ownership interest in a camp and refused to hand over financials.