What type of person would turn a tragedy such as the Second World War into a gigantic fraud to enrich themselves and their ethnic group from such suffering—especially if the fraudster’s own group were part of that suffering?
A partial answer to this question has been provided by the news that 31 Jewish Supremacists have been convicted by a New York judge for swindling millions of dollars from the German government on completely fictitious Holocaust claims.
Semen Domnitser, a former administrator at the New York “nonprofit” that distributes German reparations to Holocaust survivors was sentenced to eight years behind bars on Monday for running a $57 million fraud that used Russian immigrants to pose as victims of the Nazis.
Domnitser was also sentenced by Manhattan federal Judge Thomas Griesa to three years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $59,230 and pay $57.3 million in restitution.
A Manhattan jury in May convicted Domnitser and two accomplices of conspiracy and mail fraud for swindling the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Domnitser and accomplices Oksana Romalis and Luba Kramrish were the only three defendants to maintain their innocence in what US Attorney Preet Bharara called “unthinkable crimes.”
The other 28 accused all entered into plea bargains and admitted guilt. Nineteen of them have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from six months to three years; the others are still awaiting sentencing.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara told the court that Domnitser had “played an integral role in the scheme by processing fraudulent applications to the Conference and turning a profit of thousands of dollars for himself.”
Domnitser, who was convicted May 8 following a one-month trial, had served as director of the two defrauded programs that were established by the government of Germany to help Jewish Holocaust survivors.
Thus far, $5.2 million has been recovered from those who wrongly received the money; they have pledged an additional $3.7 million. Aside from Domnitser, those sentenced were ordered to forfeit a total of $1 million and ordered to pay restitution of $11.38 million. More forfeitures and restitution are expected when the rest of the conspirators are sentenced.
