JTA — Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky and World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder called on the Claims Conference to be reviewed by an independent committee following the disclosure of a missed opportunity to detect a massive fraud scheme.
Sharansky and Lauder released a joint statement on Tuesday, the first day of the Claims Conference’s annual board meeting, criticizing the organization’s leadership for not disclosing a 2001 letter warning about fraud to the organization’s board of directors — in addition to not disclosing a subsequent probe of the letter’s allegations.
The fraud went on for nearly 16 years, resulting in $57 million in fraudulent restitution payouts from the German government. Conference officials discovered the fraud in 2009 and alerted the FBI, which subsequently arrested 31 people, including several conference employees. All pleaded guilty or were found guilty at trial.
Sharansky and Lauder said in their statement that a committee tasked with recommending changes to the Claims Conference be made up mostly of representatives of other Jewish organizations.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
