THE JEVVIR 41 NEWS THE JEWISH BUSINESS EXCHANGE PRESENTS David Littmann, Senior Economist, Comerica Bank "Shatter Profit Records In 1997 Despite $300 Billion In Mounting Government Regulation" Six Key Points To Surviving And Thriving Among Rising Costs Of Doing Business. Tuesday, December 17, 1996 • 7:30 a.m. 6735 Telegraph Road • Bloomfield Hills Continental Breakfast $10 • No Charge JBE Members R.S.V.P. & More Information Jewish Business Exchange 33290 W. 14 Mile, Suite 423 • West Bloomfield, Michigan 48322 (810) 932-5797 Jewish Business Exchange is Southeast Michigan's dedicated forum promoting networking and business development, Jewish ethics and values and business issues affecting Jewish interests and its surrounding communities. I I I I I I I I I I 106 Sponsored by Women's Campaign and Education Department of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit Shalom Detroit is here to welcome newcomers Call 642 4260, ext. 183 to arrange a visit. - Deportation For Lithuanian New York (JTA) —A federal ap- peals court in Philadelphia has upheld a ruling that Jonas Stelmokas entered the United States illegally by concealing his involvement in a Nazi-sponsored Lithuanian battalion during World War II. The ruling affirms the 1995 re- vocation of Mr. Stelmokas' U.S. citizenship and places him one step closer to deportation, said Eli Rosenbaum, director of the Office of Special Investigations, the Nazi-hunting arm of the U.S. Jus- tice Department. "We've gotten over another hurdle," Mr. Rosenbaum said in an interview. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, which is based in Philadelphia, last week upheld in a 2-1 decision a U.S. District Court ruling to strip Mr. Stelmokas of his American citi- zenship. Mr. Stelmokas has two more opportunities to appeal, Mr. Rosenbaum added. The appeals court upheld Nov. 12 that Mr. Stelmokas, 80, a re- tired architect in Lansdowne, Pa., hid his wartime past when he came to the United States as a refugee in 1949. He was made a naturalized citizen in 1955. According to the court, Mr. Stelmokas voluntarily joined a Nazi-sponsored battalion that as- sisted in rounding up and killing Jews in Lithuania. He served as an officer in the battalion, known as the Schutzmannschaft. The group's members swore alle- giance to Adolf Hitler and were under control of German Ein- satzgruppe A, a mobile killing unit. The appeals court also upheld the finding that Mr. Stelmokas was on duty when his entire bat- talion took part in the so-called Grosse Aktion, or Great Action, in which Nazi documents record that more than 9,000 Jews in the Kaunas ghetto were methodical- ly killed in a 24-hour period. Study Links Protein, Diabetes New York (JTA) — Leptin, the protein that made headlines two years ago when it was found to reduce obesity in mice, may be a cause of adult-onset diabetes in humans, according to a new Weizmann Institute of Science study. The institute, based in Rehovot, Israel, found that high levels of leptin disrupt some of the activities of insulin, the hor- mone that controls blood sugar levels. The research also suggests that if leptin is developed into a weight-loss drug in the future, it should be used with caution be- cause it may cause the user to de- , velop diabetes-related symptoms. Moscow Lawyer Aided In Theft St. Petersburg, Russia (JTA) — A Moscow attorney will go to prison for aiding in the 1994 theft of millions of dollars of Hebrew,L, Chinese and Arab manuscripts from the Russian National Li- brary. Dmitry Yakubovsky, 33, was sentenced to five years in prison and stripped of his property on charges of complicity in the theft of objects of national value. The heist allegedly was organized by an international criminal orga- nization spanning Israel, Switzer- land and Russia. The 89 manuscripts, whose value has been estimated at between $250 million and $700 million, were to be sent to Israel and sold, the prosecution charged. Defense attorneys vowed to take the case to the Russian Supreme Court. 'We don't believe he is guilty on any of the charges," said de- fense team leader Genrikh Pad- va. "We will appeal this to the end." Arrested in January 1995, Mr. Yakubovsky has been held in St. Petersburg's notorious Kresty Prison throughout the investiga- tion and trial, which began this spring. According to testimony pre- sented at the trial, Mr. Yakubovsky was to arrange for the transfer of the manuscripts, some of them 1,300 years old, to Israel. His precise role in the ac- tual theft, however, was never clear. Police first discovered the theft in December, after which a series of arrests in Moscow, Israel and St. Petersburg led them to Mr. Yakubovsky. The manuscripts were then discovered in a St. Petersburg apartment. Mr. Yakubovsky first rose to national prominence just before the withdrawal of Russian troops from Germany, when he was tapped to lead investigations into corruption among army officers. The effort gained him the nick- name "General Dima." Russian President Boris Yeltsin later used him to gather information on political rivals, in- cluding then-Vice President Alexander Rutskoi, who led the ill-fated blockade of the Russian Parliament building in October 1994. Known as a jet-setter, Mr. Yakubovsky frequently traveled to Israel and Canada, where his wife, Marina Krasner, lives with their three children.