John Farahi sentenced to 10 years for Ponzi scheme

By Karmel Melamed
Published on March 28, 2013

John Farahi, a popular Iranian-Jewish radio talk-show host and investment adviser, was sentenced in U.S. District Court on March 18 in downtown Los Angeles to 10 years in federal prison for operating a multi-million-dollar Ponzi scheme against local Iranian-Americans. Farahi, 56, also was ordered by the court to pay more than $24 million in restitution to close to 60 victims.

Israeli judge who fled extradited from Peru

Published on March 18, 2013

An Israeli judge who fled to Peru eight years ago following allegations of bribery and fraud was extradited to Israel.

Lieberman at opening of fraud trial pleads not guilty

Published on February 18, 2013

Former Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman at the opening of his trial for fraud and breach of trust pleaded not guilty on all counts.

Avigdor Lieberman fraud trial set for next month

Published on January 28, 2013

Former Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman will go on trial next month for fraud and breach of trust.

Ex-Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman indicted for fraud

Published on December 27, 2012

Former Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was indicted on charges of fraud and breach of trust.

Lieberman questioned again in ambassador affair

Published on December 26, 2012

Former Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman was questioned again regarding allegations that he advanced an envoy's position in exchange for information on an investigation against him.

Israeli foreign minister Lieberman resigns following indictment

Published on December 14, 2012

Avigdor Lieberman has resigned as Israel’s foreign minister following his indictment for fraud and breach of trust.

‘Jewish Indiana Jones’ sentenced to federal prison term

Published on October 17, 2012

Rabbi Menachem Youlus, once dubbed the “Jewish Indiana Jones” for his remarkable tales of rescuing Holocaust-era Torah scrolls, was sentenced to more than four years in prison for fraud.

California man linked to anti-Islam film in custody, court spokesman says

Published on September 27, 2012

A California man linked to an anti-Islam film that stoked violent protests across the Muslim world was in custody on Thursday, a court spokesman said ahead of bail hearing in Los Angeles.

Israeli businessman sentenced to 22 years for fraud

Published on May 2, 2012

An Israeli businessman convicted of a $30 million investment fraud was sentenced to 22 years in prison.

‘Jewish Indiana Jones’ pleads guilty in Torah fraud case

Published on February 3, 2012

Rabbi Menachem Youlus, who was dubbed the “Jewish Indiana Jones” for his remarkable tales of rescuing Holocaust-era Torah scrolls, pleaded guilty to fraud.

Iranian Jewish Businessman Farahi indicted for ponzi scheme

By Karmel Melamed
Published on December 13, 2011

Author charged in Jewish online dating service scam

Published on October 9, 2011

American author Mitchell Gross was indicted for allegedly scamming women he met on an online Jewish dating service.

Iranian Jewish investor guilty of fraud

Published on May 23, 2011

An Iranian Jewish real estate investor in Los Angeles was found guilty of fraud after he was accused of stealing $21 million from clients.

Rubashkin appeal seeks new trial

Published on January 4, 2011

Lawyers for convicted former Agriprocessors executive Sholom Rubashkin have appealed a judge's decision denying their bid for a new trial. In a brief filed Monday with the U.S. Court of Appeals in St. Louis, Mo., lawyers for Rubashkin made four arguments on his behalf, chief among them that the presiding judge in his case, Linda Reade, should have recused herself. Reade had rejected that argument in October. Rubashkin was convicted in 2009 on 86 counts of fraud related to his management of the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, and later was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison.

Fresh scrutiny of Claims Conference allocations

Published on November 29, 2010

As the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany seeks to root out additional cases of fraud, the $42.5 million scandal that has rocked the organization has rekindled dissatisfaction with the group’s annual allocation of tens of millions of dollars.

$7 million fraud at Claims Conference raises questions

Published on July 27, 2010

After discovering $7 million in fraudulent payments, the Claims Conference is facing questions about whether it will recover the money and how extensive the fraud actually was.

Webcast: Attorney Youssefyeh speaks out year after Namvar scandal

By Karmel Melamed
Published on February 19, 2010

Madoff Gets 150 Years in Prison

By JewishJournal.com
Published on June 29, 2009

A Swindlers [Reading] List: The Three Best Stories on Madoff

By Rob Eshman
Published on March 13, 2009

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Published on March 12, 2009

Move over Madoff, L.A. gets its own indicted philanthropist

By Adam Wills
Published on March 5, 2009

Big legal trouble ahead for victimized charities and investors

By Dean Rotbart
Published on December 24, 2008

In the eyes of the American judicial system, said fraud investigators and asset hunters, some innocent victims of Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme are legitimate targets for government and civil actions seeking to compel them to disgorge any gains they derived.

Madoff

By Rob Eshman
Published on December 18, 2008

I wish Jews believed in hell, because then I could take comfort that Bernard Madoff will go there.

Stunned local groups start to count losses as list of Madoff’s victims grows

By Brad A. Greenberg
Published on December 16, 2008

It didn't take long for Bernard Madoff's arrest in New York for running an alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme to send shockwaves through Los Angeles' Jewish community. The growing swindler's list of victims reads like a who's who of L.A. Jewish communal life, including the Jewish Community Foundation, The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, Jewish Family Service, Jewish Free Loan Association and Beit T'Shuvah.

Madoff’s ‘unspeakable evil’ shocks those who thought they knew him well

By Dean Rotbart
Published on December 16, 2008

The paradox -- one man possessed of bountiful quantities of good and evil -- is confounding to many who knew Madoff and only now are discovering his dark side.

Spielberg's Wunderkinder Foundation joins list of Madoff victims; Full text of statements from Federation and Jewish Community Foundation

By Tom Tugend
Published on December 15, 2008

Steven Spielberg suffered some losses in the Bernard Madoff fraud scandal, though apparently nowhere near a rumored $300 million. However, the famed filmmaker's private Wunderkinder Foundation had some investments with Madoff, though Spielberg spokesman Marvin Levy said he was unable to detail the assets or losses of the foundation.

Madoff scandal rocks Jewish philanthropic world

Published on December 15, 2008

At least two foundations have been forced to close because they had invested their funds with Madoff. The Robert I. Lappin Foundation in Salem, Mass., announced Dec. 12 that it would shut down after losing $8 million -- all of its money. And the Chais Family Foundation, which gives out some $12.5 million each year to Jewish causes in Israel, the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, announced its closing Dec. 14.

Is Bernie Madoff Jewish?  Very. Oy.

By Rob Eshman
Published on December 12, 2008

"It's all just one big lie."

With those words Bernard Madoff confessed to senior executives of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities that the $17 billion hedge fund he founded was nothing more than a Ponzi scheme. Madoff is at the center of "the largest investor swindle ever blamed on a single individual."

The news that broke today on the front pages of the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal reverberated in Jewish communities across the world. "A lot of Jewish charities had investments with him," one prominent investor told The Jewish Journal. "So did a lot of Jews."

UPDATE: Among the victims was the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles.

Agriprocessors closed—now where’s the beef?

By Ben Harris
Published on November 20, 2008

The kosher meat market is in a tailspin as production at the Agriprocessors' meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, which had been operating at a fraction of its normal capacity since May, finally ground to a halt this week. The company, whose meat was sold under the labels Rubashkin's and Aaron's Best, among others, filed for bankruptcy Nov. 4.

Investment ‘diamond deal’ ends as four jailed on kidnap charges

By Brad A. Greenberg
Published on October 15, 2008

"This may have started as a dispute," said district attorney spokeswoman Jane Robison, "but we have evidence that he was roughed up and held against his will for a ransom of $4.5 million."

Dear Mr. Bloggish, send me some dough

By The Web Guy
Published on September 26, 2008

PETA hidden camera exposé costs Agriprocessors support of key expert [VIDEO]

By Ben Harris
Published on September 17, 2008

Animal welfare expert Temple Grandin accused kosher slaughterer Agriprocessors of putting on a "show" for visitors

Grand Rabbi pleads not guilty

By Tom Tugend
Published on December 30, 2007

On Dec. 19, Los Angeles authorities arrested six people, including Naftali Tzi Weisz, 59, the grand rabbi of Spinka, a Brooklyn-based Hasidic sect, on charges of creating a money-laundering scheme that worked through financial networks in Los Angeles and Israel.

Sympathy for the Devil?

By David Klinghoffer
Published on January 26, 2006

By now thousands of published articles, ranging from critical to hateful, have appeared about the famous Jack Abramoff -- Orthodox Jew, former Washington super-lobbyist, product of an affluent Beverly Hills upbringing and future inmate of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He has pleaded guilty to mail fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy.

Fraud Arrest at Kabbalah Centre

By Tom Tugend
Published on November 10, 2005

Tel Aviv police have arrested the director of the Israel Kabbalah Centre, following complaints that he had fraudulently exploited a dying cancer patient and her husband.

Redemption

Published on September 23, 2004

Sixteen years ago, Mark Borovitz was in prison for the second time. A Cleveland native, he began selling stolen goods for the Cleveland mob out of his high school locker, then graduated to con games and hustles. In prison, he came under the influence of Rabbi Mel Silverman and began a return to faith that culminated, after his release, in his earning a rabbinical degree.

Fraudulent Friend

By Gaby Wenig
Published on January 10, 2002

After being left a quadriplegic in a car accident in 1993, 53-year-old Alice Wintz received an insurance settlement that she thought would, with careful investing, leave her financially secure for life.

So she asked money manager Reed Slatkin to invest her settlement. Wintz and her ex-husband had met Slatkin in 1986 through a business associate, and considered him a friend. Impressed with his charm and financial acumen, and, having had what Wintz describes as a "good experience" investing a small amount of money with him in 1986, they thought they could trust him with the insurance settlement.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had accused Slatkin of running a Ponzi scheme shortly after he filed for bankruptcy in May 2001. (A Ponzi scheme is a phony investment plan in which money provided by later investors is used to pay artificially high returns to the initial investors, with the goal of attracting as many investors as possible.) Slatkin's alleged scheme is said to be one of the biggest cases of investment fraud in American history.

Car Alarm

By Tom Tugend
Published on December 11, 1997

You've read the newspaper ads or heard the pitches on the radio: Donate your old car to our worthy charity, which aids orphans/immigrants/homeless/the halt and the lame, and enjoy a generous tax write-off.

A Russian Godfather?

By Larry Derfner
Published on July 3, 1997

To the general Israeli public, the "Lerner Affair" reveals the frightening tentacles of the Russian mafia in Israel, and the danger it poses to this country's economic and political system. To many in the Russian immigrant community, however, the Lerner Affair is a case of harassment -- a high-profile attempt by the established Israeli "elite" to cast all Russian immigrants as criminals.