Scummiest Crime Ever: Alleged Embezzlement of Holocaust Reparations
[Guest post by Aaron Worthing; send your tips here.]
You might want to shower after reading this one. If true, this is officially the scummiest crime I have ever heard of:
$40M in Holocaust Reparations Stolen in Massive Scam
Millions of dollars meant to help survivors of the Jewish Holocaust instead were stolen and fraudulently given to thousands of people who were not eligible for the funds, Justice Department officials said.
The FBI said insiders who were responsible for verifying requests to the Conference On Jewish Material Claims instead helped commit a massive fraud. Investigators said in exchange for kickbacks, the employees signed off on bogus applications submitted in part by Russian immigrants who falsely claimed they had lost their homes and belongings during the Nazi era. Seventeen people have been charged in the outrageous swindle.
“The alleged fraud is as substantial as it is galling,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said.
Officials said Semen Domnitser was one of the alleged ringleaders who signed off on fraudulent applications from more than 4,000 people. In all, more than $40 million in funds provided by the German government meant for survivors was stolen or is unaccounted for, prosecutors said. Investigators said the Claims Conference first uncovered some of the alleged fraud and alerted the FBI to the ongoing scheme.
As they say read the whole thing.
Against all odds, my already low estimation of human nature just went down a notch.
Exit question: is it wrong to laugh when you see Mr. Domnitser’s first name? Yeah, probably.
[Posted and authored by Aaron Worthing.]
Mr. Domnitser’s first name might be a Russian one which is pronounced “Semyon,” accent on second syllable.
dchamil (db94d0) — 11/10/2010 @ 6:37 amThat’s what it is, although the Daily Beast, got it wrong, transliteration is tricky some times
justin cord (82637e) — 11/10/2010 @ 6:40 amSo it’s really more juvenile than it is “wrong.” Sort of like giggling when somebody says “poop.”
Gesundheit (cfa313) — 11/10/2010 @ 6:50 am“Y’know, sometimes, when I think you’re the shallowest man I’ve
ever met, you manage to drain just a LITTLE more out of the pool.”
– ‘Seinfeld’ –
or perhaps you prefer:
“Man has not evolved an inch from the slime that spawned him!”
– “Jekyl & Hyde: Together Again” –
In truth, however — One cannot fairly generalize from one example of utter slime to the whole of humanity.
As humans, we are, indeed, a very wide spectrum, not a point along a line.
For every piece of abject scum like these, there are a thousand more doing good deeds with little or no hosannas to their works.
IgotBupkis (9eeb86) — 11/10/2010 @ 6:56 amHeh heh heh…. he said ‘poop‘.
Beavis (9eeb86) — 11/10/2010 @ 6:57 amThat being said, there isn’t a punishment severe enough for the conmen in this scheme, is nothing
justin cord (82637e) — 11/10/2010 @ 7:17 amoff limits any more
Seriously, let me ask. would it be proper to replace the original name with “Semyon”? i don’t want patterico to get like 50,000 spam comments from dirty sites.
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 11/10/2010 @ 7:24 amI still believe that the ultimate scum in this sorry scenario has always been, and will always be, the corrupt and venal swiss bankers who refused to even acknowledge that maybe, just maybe, there were billions in wealth stolen on the graves of those mass murdered by one of the most evil regimes in history. They fought the relatives for decades, all the while knowing full well the extent of this heinous crime – when they finally relented, it was only under incredible pressure being brought to bear by the collective weight of western civilization.
Dmac (498ece) — 11/10/2010 @ 7:37 amIgotBupkis is right.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (fb9e90) — 11/10/2010 @ 7:37 amAs Stephen Jay Gould wrote, The innumerable kind and decent people out there don’t get much attention because they’re so common.
“Why, then, do most of us have the impression that people are so agressive, and intrinsically so? The answer, I think, lies in the asymmetry of effects – the truly tragic side of human existence. Unfortunately, one incident of violence can undo thousand acts of kindness, and we easily forget the predominance of kindness over agression by confusing effect with frequency. One racially motivated beating can wipe out years of patient education for respect and toleration in a school of community. One murder can convert a friendly town, replete with trust, into a nexus of fear with people behind barred doors, suspicious of everyone and afraid to go out at night. Kindness is so fragile, so easy to efface; violence is so powerful.”
Greetings:
Sounds like our illustrious US Department of Agriculture’s performance on the Negro Farmers discrimination suit. Yeah redistribution, go team go.
11B40 (04b803) — 11/10/2010 @ 9:20 amWhere a lot of money is involved, conscienece often flies right out the window.
Icy Texan (219abf) — 11/10/2010 @ 9:41 amNever underestimate the depravity that the Human animal can sink to.
AD-RtR/OS! (44d08f) — 11/10/2010 @ 10:02 amExit question: is it wrong to laugh when you see Mr. Domnitser’s first name? Yeah, probably.
I’m sure his dad was fond of saying, “Remember where you came from”
A.G. (16fd09) — 11/10/2010 @ 11:01 amAgainst all odds, my already low estimation of human nature just went down a notch.
For some people, money is more important than morals.
It’s nothing new.
Blacque Jacques Shellacque (609d83) — 11/10/2010 @ 11:19 amScummiest Crime Ever? Hardly.
Torquemada (a8a9b2) — 11/10/2010 @ 12:01 pmWhat #1 said. Also, there’s probably an umlaut missing.
The Sanity Inspector (ef5d4d) — 11/10/2010 @ 12:43 pmIt sounds a bit like the asbestos scam that is till running except that the asbestos scam is billions.
Mike K (568408) — 11/10/2010 @ 5:06 pmMike K: AIUI the asbestos scam is over. All the money is gone; the defendant companies are bankrupt.
What is truly scummy about that scam is that hundreds of millions were looted from the compensation fund for dubious claims, including claims of injury for mere endangerment, while many individuals who had real injuries never got any compensation.
Rich Rostrom (f7aeae) — 11/10/2010 @ 5:36 pmThe law firms are still trolling for clients who “might have” been exposed 50 years ago. There are TV commercials all day long. There must be some money somewhere or they wouldn’t bother.
The silicone implant scam has sort of gone away but asbestos still seems to be supporting some law firms.
Mike K (568408) — 11/10/2010 @ 6:23 pmThe list of people who have been sued in the asbestos claims is remarkable. If you ever sold anything containing asbestos’ transported anything containing asbestos, or sold anything containing asbestos, you have been sued.
JD (5117ab) — 11/10/2010 @ 6:30 pmThe same thing happened with 9/11: people tried to pretend they were victims or lost someone, when they were really just looking to ripoff the government. I would say that anyone who tries to take advantage of the rest of us in that way is scummy. Certainly those pretending to be victims of the Holocaust fit in that category, but I don’t think they are in a category by themselves. As horrible as the Holocaust was, those who try to take advantage of the reparations are common thieves.
Anon Y. Mous (5ac901) — 11/10/2010 @ 6:38 pmThe interesting thing to me is that if I understand the reporting correctly, my father and his siblings may in fact be eligible for this $3600. They fled Kharkov when the German bombing started, and spent the War as refugees in Samarkand. As far as I know it has never even occurred to them that they might be eligible for any sort of compensation for this.
Milhouse (ea66e3) — 11/11/2010 @ 7:07 am7.Seriously, let me ask. would it be proper to replace the original name with “Semyon”? i don’t want patterico to get like 50,000 spam comments from dirty sites.
Comment by Aaron Worthing
Yes, I support changing it.
Teri (7dcb0b) — 11/11/2010 @ 11:07 amThe people who did this are just barely above neo-Nazis, militant Islamists, and sex offenders.
Michael Ejercito (249c90) — 11/11/2010 @ 11:47 am