9 charged in Holocaust reparation fraud
Henry Gordin, Genrikh Kolontyrskiy, Viktor Levin, Ella Voskresenskiy, Zlata Blavatnik, Pyotr Blavatnik, Yevgeniya Abramovich and Asya Galindo were arrested Wednesday and a ninth, Lana Kagan, is expected to surrender Thursday, U.S. Department of Justice officials said.
All are charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud. A total of 30 people have been charged in the case.
Five of the suspects are former employees of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, based in New York. They allegedly processed applications to provide reparations to those not eligible for the funds in exchange for a kickback.
"As I said when the initial charges in this case were announced, my office, working with our partners at the FBI, would not stop until we brought to justice those who are alleged to have stolen more than $57 million from the Claims Conference, thereby diverting money intended for survivors of the Holocaust," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said. "With today's charges, we have now identified 30 people who allegedly exploited a fund that is as symbolically important as it is necessary to its beneficiaries."
Oct. 12, 2011