Madoff gets bail but Rubashkin denied

Tefila

Mon, Dec 29 2008, 9:41 pm

Sorry wrong article posted this should have been before
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Madoff scandal feeds anti-Semitism
4:00AM Saturday Dec 27, 2008

The disgraced investment guru is accused of orchestrating a US$50 billion ($89 billion) Ponzi scheme that preyed heavily on fellow Jews and ultimately drained the fortunes of numerous Jewish charities and institutions.
There's nothing new about con artists targeting their own kind. The term for it is affinity fraud and it has struck numerous religious, ethnic and professional groups.

But the allegations against Madoff are particularly wrenching for some in the Jewish community, who fear the sensational case is fanning vicious stereotypes about Jews that go back to the Middle Ages.

The Anti-Defamation League cites a spike in anti-Semitic comments online after Madoff's December 11 arrest.

A columnist for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz lamented the case as "the answer to every Jew-hater's wish list".

And the American Jewish Committee's executive director, David Harris, wrote to the New York Times criticising what he saw as "a striking emphasis" on Madoff's faith in one of the paper's many stories about the scandal.

The case is "fodder for the bigots", Abraham Foxman, the committee's national director said. "It's both embarrassing and it's painful."

It's difficult to describe the case in any detail without mentioning Madoff's religion.

The 70-year-old money manager and former Nasdaq stock market chairman donated hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, much of it to Jewish causes.

Many of the known victims of his business, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, are big names in Jewish life.

Yeshiva University, one of the nation's foremost Jewish institutions of higher education, lost US$110 million; Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organisation of America, lost US$90 million; director Steven Spielberg's Wunderkinder Foundation acknowledged unspecified losses; and a US$15 million foundation established by Holocaust survivor and writer Elie Wiesel was wiped out.

Jewish federations and hospitals have lost millions and some foundations have had to close.

Madoff is charged with securities fraud and is under house arrest in his Manhattan apartment with round-the-clock security. His lawyer has said he intends to fight the charge.
The damage to the Jewish community was psychological as well as financial, said Kenneth Bandler, a spokesman for the American Jewish Committee.

He said his organisation declined to invest with Madoff this year because it was unable to decipher how his organisation was producing his renowned returns.

At Jewish organisations and synagogues, Bandler said, people asked themselves: "How could someone who is held in such high esteem in the Jewish community knowingly rip off what were supposed to be his friends, the organisations he admired and supported?"

Tefila

Mon, Dec 29 2008, 9:50 pm

Monday, December 29, 2008 <<Previous>> Post a Comment
Flight risk ruling spurs protest
Jewish Americans say decision violates their civil rights
BY ANDY PIPER TH STAFF WRITER

Photo by: Dave Kettering
Demonstrators perform the horah on the eighth night of Hanukkah near the Dubuque County Jail on Sunday in Dubuque, where Sholom Rubashkin, former manager of the Agriprocessors Inc. plant in Postville, Iowa, is being held.
It's a court ruling that Jewish Americans from coast-to-coast immediately viewed as unconstitutional and as an erosion of their civil rights. Sunday, about 60 people, mostly from Postville, Iowa, assembled in front of the Dubuque Law Enforcement Center to light a menorah on the last night of Hanukkah to shed light on the case.

Former Agriprocessors Chief Executive Officer Sholom Rubashkin is being held in the Dubuque County Jail on federal charges of harboring illegal immigrants, document fraud, identity theft and bank fraud. Rubashkin was denied bail Dec. 22.

The Anti-Defamation League has referred that ruling to U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey.

Matt Dummermuth, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa, argued that Rubashkin poses a flight risk, in part because of the Law of Return -- Israeli legislation enacted in 1950 that gives Jews and those of Jewish ancestry, as well as their spouses, the right to migrate to and settle in Israel and gain citizenship. As far as anyone can remember, the Law of Return never has been cited as a reason to deny
bail. Many Jews fear the ruling could set a precedent.

"This is very troubling for all Jews across the U.S.," said Amy Dickel, a Postville businesswoman who helped organize the demonstration. "We think this is a new legal thing. Mr. Dummermuth basically has a different legal interpretation that says if you are a Jew, then you are a flight risk."

Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, wrote a letter to Mukasey dated Dec. 24 to protest the ruling by Magistrate Jon Scoles.

"The most troubling aspect here is that the government does not appear to have alleged, nor does the Detention Order conclude, that Defendant Rubashkin has any particular ties to Israel," wrote Foxman. "Instead, the government and the Detention Order appear to conclude that simply because Defendant Rubashkin is Jewish, and because Jews may have a claim on Israeli citizenship, his religion is relevant to a bail hearing."

Foxman argues that the ruling hold Jewish defendants to a different standard of detention, thus making it unconstitutional.

Demonstrators Sunday held signs reading "Where is the Bill of Rights?" "Equal protection under the law" and "No bail for Jews."

"Hanukkah is a symbol of freedom and light and hope," Dickel said. "We think this is one U.S. attorney who is out of hand."

The demonstration was under way only for a few minutes before Dubuque police intervened, asking Dickel to discontinue the display. Dubuque Police Lt. Steve Radloff called Dickel aside and told her that it was "essentially an unlawful assembly," since demonstrators partially blocked access to the Dubuque Law Enforcement Center parking lot and were on the sidewalk.

"It's fine, but it has gone beyond the expectation and the description of the event," Radloff said. "You can't block public-access areas: the street, the driveway, the sidewalk."

Scoles reportedly has told Rubashkin's attorneys that they are attaching too much significance to the Law of Return aspect of his ruling. Scoles said evidence showed Rubashkin had a travel bag with cash and travel documents at the time of his arrest, and it is believed that two others associated with Agriprocessors already have fled to Israel.

Rubashkin has offered millions of dollars to secure a bond. He also has volunteered to wear an electronic tracking bracelet and to hire a private security firm to keep him under house arrest if he is released.

Agriprocessors was the site of a May 12 immigration raid in which 389 people were arrested, more than a third of the plant's work force. The company and top managers also are accused of violating state and federal laws dealing with child labor, wage requirements and safety rules. The company filed for bankruptcy protection and has been appointed a third-party overseer.

Fair or not u be the judge !