A resident of a small Russian community in North York, near Steeles Avenue and Yonge Street, has been found guilty for her part in a scheme that defrauded an organization that supports survivors of the Holocaust of $57.3 million.
Luba Kramrish, 58, was convicted in a United States court alongside Semen Domnitser, the former director of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (JMCAG), the New York–based non-profit that was victimized.
They were each convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and one count of mail fraud.
Kramrish was one of 31 people who played roles in the theft of $57 million intended to benefit victims of the Nazi genocide, and all were convicted.
“We said we would not stop until we brought to justice those who committed these unthinkable crimes, and today our objective was accomplished,” said Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
The scheme involved systematically falsifying claims to the JMCAG to make it appear as though undeserving applicants were eligible for monetary disbursements from the non-profit organization.
The JMCAG’s Hardship Fund gives a one-time payment of approximately $3,500 to individuals who can prove they were victims of Nazi persecution during the Second World War.
Its Article II Fund makes monthly payments of $400 to Jews who can prove they lived in hiding, under a false identity or in a Jewish ghetto for at least 18 months as well as to those who were incarcerated in a concentration or forced labour camp for at least six months.
An FBI investigation revealed that recruiters, such as Kramrish, would approach individuals for birth certificates and identification documents, which were then doctored to seem eligible for compensation.
These documents would then be passed on to high-ranking employees, such as Domnitser, who were supposed to confirm their accuracy.
When the individuals received their cheques, Kramrish and others would pocket a portion of the money and send another portion up the chain.
Since the FBI investigations into the accused first began in December of 2009, it was found that almost 5,000 applications were fraudulently submitted.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office, many applicants were born after the Second World War, and one was not Jewish.
David Rose, the Canadian lawyer who represented Kramrish during the trial, offered a brief comment via e-mail.
“Ms. Kramrish is disappointed in the verdict,” he wrote.
Kramrish is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 10, 2013.
She faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, for each of her two fraud counts, and a maximum fine of either $250,000 or twice the scheme’s gross gain or loss.