World

Imposters Profit

$7 million fraud at Claims Conference raises concerns about how extensive.

Jacob Berkman

or living under a
At the meet-
false identity to
ings, the board
avoid the Nazis.
approved a
New York
Conference
$500,000 reserve
officials said they
fund "as a con-
fter discovering $7 million
immediately noti-
tingency to cover
in fraudulent payments, the
fied the FBI and
potential expenses
Claims Conference is facing
the U.S. Attorney's
associated with
questions about whether it will recover
Office, and dis-
investigating the
the money and how extensive the fraud
cussed the mat-
fraud and recov-
actually was.
ter in meetings
ering the funds,"
Officials at the Claims Conference,
with the German
according to a
which acts as a pass-through to dis-
government. The
spokesperson
tribute more than $400 million per year
Federal Bureau
for the Claims
from Eastern European governments
of Investigation
Conference.
directly to Holocaust survivors, discov-
and the Claims
The board also
ered last last year that it had paid out
Conference are
has spent some
at least $7 million in pension payments
continuing to
money on public
dating back as far as 1980 to 202 impos- investigate.
relations services
ters who used fraudulent documents to
In total, the
from the high-pro-
file claims for payments.
Claims Conference
file firm Howard
The Claims Conference notified the
has made pension
Rubenstein;
recipients in July that their payments
payments to more CC executive Gregory Schneider
Claims Conference
were being suspended and that they had than 160,000 peo-
Chairman Julius
90 days either to return all the money
ple in 78 countries
Berman described
they had received or appeal the suspen-
on behalf of the Germans since the start the sum as "minimal!'
sion. Some 40 people have responded,
of the Hardship Fund in 1980 and the
The Claims Conference makes several
with about half saying they wanted
Article 2 fund in 1995. The organization
kinds of payments. Most of the money
to return the money and half asking
now is reviewing each of the recipients,
it handles are pass-through payments
for appeals, according to the Claims
comparing the information it has from
from the German government to Nazi
Conference.
the fraudulent claims, such as where the
victims. The organization handled
It is not clear what, if any, criminal
claims were made, to all other claims,
about $418 million in such payouts in
charges they will face.
going case by case through all their case 2009, and some $4 billion since 1980
"Criminal activity is not a matter for
histories.
from agreements negotiated between
the Claims Conference," said Gregory
the German government and the Claims
Schneider, its executive vice president.
New York Focus
Conference acting as the representative
"We reserve the right go after them in
The 202 suspects came from reviewing
of Nazi victims and the Jewish people.
civil court for the return of money."
"thousands" of recipients, according
In addition, the Claims Conference
Claims Conference officials first
to a Claims Conference official, but it
decides on how to distribute money
noticed last November that several
expects to find more as the organization each year from the sale of heirless
claimants had falsified information to
reviews the entire caseload.
Jewish property in the former East
receive payments from the Hardship
Payments are made from Claims
Germany. That money is distributed
Fund, an account established by the
Conference's offices in Frankfurt, Tel
using a formula in which 80 percent
German government to give one-time
Aviv and New York, but thus far all the
goes to organizations that aid survivors
payments of roughly $3,000 to those
suspected fraud was processed through
and 20 percent to programs involved in
who fled the Nazis as they moved east
the New York office. The discovery led
Holocaust education, documentation
through Germany.
to the firing of two case workers and
and commemoration.
A further internal investigation
one supervisor in that office. Schneider
Over the past few years, however,
revealed that more fraudulent claimants would not comment on whether the
as the Claims Conference upped the
received payments from the organi-
employees were under criminal investi-
payouts from this fund — in 2010, the
zation's Article 2 fund, through which
gation.
organization is set to distribute $136
the German government gives pension
The fraud was reported in the New
million — the Holocaust education
payments of roughly $375 per month to
York Jewish Week just before the Claims
portion was capped at $18 million. The
those who spent either six months mini- Conference board of directors held their
Claims Conference has about $1.16
mum in a concentration camp or at least annual meetings in New York in mid-
billion from this fund earmarked for
18 months in a Jewish ghetto, in hiding
July.
future payments.

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

A

28

August 5 • 2010

Multi Millions
The organization also distributes other
monies negotiated from European gov-
ernments for such issues as home care
for needy, ailing survivors. The Claims
Conference will distribute about $80
million in such funds this year, officials
said.
"The Claims Conference has a 59-year
history of working with the German
government," Schneider said. "During
this time, the Claims Conference has
continuously negotiated for the rights of
Holocaust victims, establishing compen-
sation funds and obtaining expansions
of existing programs!'
He added, "While all understand that
money can never truly compensate
Holocaust victims for their suffering,
the German government has assumed
responsibility throughout the decades
and acknowledged its obligation to sur-
vivors. The Claims Conference believes
that the German government will con-
tinue to honor this obligation as long as
Nazi victims remain alive!'

Answering
Israel's Critics

The Charge
British Prime Minister David Cameron,
criticizing Israel last week while on a
visit to Turkey, said "Gaza cannot and
must not be allowed to remain a prison
camp!'

The Answer
Israel's embassy in Britain responded
that the Gazans are prisoners of the
terrorist Hamas, which rules Gaza with
an iron fist. It said the real prisoner in
Gaza is Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, held
in captivity four years without even one
visit from the Red Cross.

- Allan Gale

Jewish Community Relations Council

®

of Metropolitan Detroit

Jewish Renaissance Media, August 5, 2010