Quebec - Report: Bounced Checks, Unpaid Bills And Taxes Left Behind In Quebec By Lev Tahor

Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans

Quebec - According to records, the fundamentalist Jewish sect Lev Tahor left behind a multitude of bounced checks, and unpaid bills and taxes when it fled Quebec for Ontario in early December, despite listing donations of close to $6M in the group’s charities coffers over the past decade.

THESTAR.com reports that school board taxes, legal fees, and monies owed to local contractors for services rendered are among the stack of unpaid financial commitments left behind by the sect.

  

Court records show that, in at least three instances, judgements have been handed down against the group ordering them to make good on unpaid school board taxes, totaling into the thousands of dollars, and that in every instance, not only did Lev Tahor not offer a statement of defense, but failed to have a representative appear in court on their behalf.

Financial statements by the group show that over the past decade its two charities; Congregation Riminov and the Society of Spiritual Development, have posted accrued donations totaling close to $6M combined.

Court records show that in a case in which a local Quebec contracting company attempted to collect payment of $5,089.53 from Lev Tahor for installing an air-exchange system in one of its buildings, senior group member Mayer Rosner wrote three post-dated checks to the contractor, two of which bounced.

In a recent interview, Nachman Helbrans, son of the sect’s spiritual leader Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans, downplayed the perception that the group is derelict in paying its bills, stating that the group has met financial hardship after a string of tough breaks involving financial and business investments.

“I know that sometimes we are having a big financial burden,” Helbrans said.