NEW YORK - In the jewish religion, the torah is a
sacred document. But one rabbi played on the emotions of religious jews to
steal more than a million dollars and shake their faith in those they believed
they could trust.
In a video, Rabbi Manachem Youlus said, "How many
scrolls could have survived the holocaust...5... 10... Now I know it is
thousands..." He called himself the 'Jewish Indiana Jones' and told
dramatic tales of rescuing holocaust-era torahs.
A victim, who wanted to remain anonymous, said, "The
torah is something you can't even describe how importance it is, it is the
essence of our existence really so for someone to do such a horrible thing and
cause so many people such despair and it's unthinkable, especially in the name
of religion."
His stories were all fiction. One woman is still embarrassed
by the fact that the "restored" torah scroll her family thought they
were buying for their father was a total fake. "First, it was disbelief
and shock. So to think this rabbi would do such a thing is unthinkable.
Unthinkable. To tell my father would absolutely crush him."
Donna Harris, is with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
She said, "Postal inspectors found out through research and historical
facts, where rabbi said he found these torahs it couldn't have been based on
his travels."
Youlus sold the so-called historical torahs for thousands of
dollars to people who believed they were buying history.
Harris said, "Rabbi Youllas had torahs, but they
weren't rescued from the holocaust, from concentration camps they were torahs
he purchased from torah dealers here in the U.S."
In all, the scheme cost consumers: $1.5 million. Youlus
spent some of the money in personal accounts and on private school tuition for
his children. But more importantly he stole the trust of his victims.
The
anonymous victim said, "It was truly a roller coaster of emotion, from the
time we first came across this organization, to the time we gave him the gift
it was such a high, to when we found out this was a fraud, which was the depths
of despair and then had to go tell him... it really put a cloud over his 75th
birthday."
Rabbi Youlus was ultimately found guilty and sentenced to 4
years in prison. At his sentencing Youlus apologized and said he regretted his
conduct.
No comments:
Post a Comment