Sacramento Bee A federal judge in Sacramento ruled late Tuesday that the California
branch of one of the world’s largest Jewish religious organizations
misappropriated grant funds and now must pay $844,985 in damages and
penalties.
U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. found that Chabad of
California violated the federal False Claims Act with bogus statements
and certifications in connection with money it obtained through the
Urban Areas Security Initiative: Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which
provides funding for security upgrades to eligible nonprofits.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security program is administered here through the California Emergency Management Agency.
In a 21-page order, England found that Chabad knowingly failed to
comply with grant requirements and falsely assured the government that
it had written procedures to regulate the use of the funds.[...]
“Rabbi Cunin made it clear that the absence of policies was not an
oversight” and “conceded that he never planned to safeguard the grant
advances and ensure that funds so received were used only to pay
authorized grant costs,” England said.
Cunin “treated the grant advances as if they were gifts to Chabad
that, once paid by Cal EMA, were ‘no longer the business of the
government,’” England said, quoting the rabbi’s deposition testimony.
“(Cunin’s) cavalier attitude shows, at minimum, a reckless disregard.” [...]
The whistleblowers, Aria Kozak and his wife, Donna Kozak, of Santa
Monica, through their company, Elite Interactive Solutions, installed
state-of-the-art video surveillance equipment in several Chabad of
California facilities, but were not paid for the work despite repeated
requests, according to Hirst. [...]
Why do we read about criminal activity of Chabad shluchim on almost a daily basis? Why does Chabad in Crown Heights continue to allow these people to represent their movement if they don’t stand for Judaism or any moral code of conduct? Why are other Chabad shluchim silent about their criminal colleagues?
ReplyDeleteThis myth that Chabad shluchim are beacons of Judaism and champions of ethics/morals needs to be dispelled in the loudest voice possible.
It is not as if this is the first time Rabbi Cunin has had dealings with the law over his financial activities….yet still he flies the Chabad flag high.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_17461342
What do you need to do to be “struck off” from Shlichus?
Monty - It's obvious. The Shluchim are too afraid for their jobs!
ReplyDeleteIf only some of them had other professions,they could break away from the Chabad Cult and have their own minds and principles. Right now they are all brainwashed!
These recent cases are wake up calls.
Chabad is not the righteous upstanding organisation it seems!
Monty - I'm in no way excusing the conduct, but having read the decision it seems more like sloppy "haimish" accounting than criminal theft. They didn't segregate the funds as they were supposed to, and they tried putting off paying bills that were long past due. Sure, they ought to learn to run their business (that is what many local Chabads are) professionally, but I wouldn't call this criminal and the government didn't either.
ReplyDeleteI would be more than happy to excuse their behavior if their "sloppy haimish errors" didn't always happen to be in their favor. For example, I doubt they forget to cash a cheque made out to them, or accidentally pay someone twice due to poor record keeping.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry but this behavior is totally indefensible and once again the Chabad sympathizers come out in force. Your hollow rhetoric is turning more and more people away from Chabad!