New York – Prosecutors are continuing their investigation into what may turn out to be the largest investment fraud scheme since the Madoff case which appears to have victimized some of the largest philanthropists in the Orthodox Jewish community.
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More than 600 clients may have invested in Platinum Partners, with six of the firm’s executives were arrested on Monday by the FBI, as previously reported on VIN News (http://bit.ly/2hyyPd7). Included in that number are well known names in the Jewish community including Ralph Herzka and Rubin Schron, reported the Wall Street Journal.
Schron said that he left the decisions about where to invest his holdings to his money manager. Jack Bojman, who currently holds that position, said that the Platinum investments were made prior to his hiring.
Shlomo Yehuda Rechnitz is also said to have made major investments with Platinum, with a source estimating them at tens of millions of dollars. Rechnitz reportedly told friend that he has had to scale back on his charitable donations because of the Platinum fiasco and is said to have had to trim has annual $5 million donation to the Mirrer Yeshiva in Jerusalem to just $1 million.
Another Platinum client, Torah Umesorah, invested a multi-million dollar contribution with the firm at the donor’s request in 2008. Platinum refused the organization’s request to withdraw its holding last year, finally agreeing to treat the redemption as a loan bearing investment. Sources said that the money still has not been repaid.
On one had I wish I had those worries. On the other hand I am glad I don’t. Not sure….
I doubt Schron, Rechnitz or Herzka will be applying for food stamps now.
If they’d robbed anybody other than frum Jews we’d all be raising money for their defense.
Sad story. Here we go again, again, and again. No end to this chillul Hashem.
Unfortunately there are many others too that take OPM wrongly without a conscious. Very sad for all the victims…
A charity has a fiduciary obligation to make sure the money the received from donors is safe. A charity is not a business which can take chances with other
people’s money
Then we wonder why kids go off the derech. They see these people who are so looked up to become criminals and figure why be part of such a “religion’?
I’m sure the Platinum partners will do the right thing and sell their mansions and Israel homes to reimburse everyone. These are drum people.