Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Ex-New Square clerk held without bail on federal fraud charges from the 1990s
A federal judge yesterday ordered a former New Square village clerk held without bail on charges that he helped steal tens of millions of dollars from federal anti-poverty programs and then fled the country in the late 1990s.
Avrum David Friesel, 57, who is married with children, was extradited to the United States on Aug. 7 from London after he fought to stay in Great Britain.
U.S. marshals and London police arrested Friesel in April 2008 after he had eluded authorities since 1997.
Friesel's next scheduled appearance is Sept. 9 in U.S. District Court. His lawyer, William Komaroff of Manhattan, declined to comment.
Friesel, a son of New Square's only mayor, and six other men were accused of defrauding federal and state subsidy programs to benefit themselves and others living in the Hasidic Jewish village in Ramapo.
One of the schemes described in a 64-count indictment from 1997 included an $11.6 million fraud that bilked state and federal education programs, mostly for nonexistent students supposedly enrolled in a Judaic studies mentoring program approved by Rockland Community College.
Rockland repaid $5.1 million of the stolen money.
Five of the defendants also were convicted of creating a phony religious school in Brooklyn to steal millions more in education aid after the RCC scam.
Friesel appeared yesterday before Judge Barbara Jones, who oversaw the sentencing of five of Friesel's co-defendants.
Jones ordered him held without bail in the Metropolitan Correctional Center, across from the Foley Square courthouse in lower Manhattan.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan obtained an indictment involving a conspiracy that ran for two decades and was concealed by the use of false names and bank accounts and fraudulent income tax returns.
Among the programs defrauded were federal and state tuition assistance grants; a Small Business Administration program to aid small, minority-owned companies; the Section 8 rental subsidy program; and an insurance benefit program run by the Social Security Administration.
http://www.lohud.com/article/20090818/NEWS03/908180361/-1/SPORTS
Avrum David Friesel, 57, who is married with children, was extradited to the United States on Aug. 7 from London after he fought to stay in Great Britain.
U.S. marshals and London police arrested Friesel in April 2008 after he had eluded authorities since 1997.
Friesel's next scheduled appearance is Sept. 9 in U.S. District Court. His lawyer, William Komaroff of Manhattan, declined to comment.
Friesel, a son of New Square's only mayor, and six other men were accused of defrauding federal and state subsidy programs to benefit themselves and others living in the Hasidic Jewish village in Ramapo.
One of the schemes described in a 64-count indictment from 1997 included an $11.6 million fraud that bilked state and federal education programs, mostly for nonexistent students supposedly enrolled in a Judaic studies mentoring program approved by Rockland Community College.
Rockland repaid $5.1 million of the stolen money.
Five of the defendants also were convicted of creating a phony religious school in Brooklyn to steal millions more in education aid after the RCC scam.
Friesel appeared yesterday before Judge Barbara Jones, who oversaw the sentencing of five of Friesel's co-defendants.
Jones ordered him held without bail in the Metropolitan Correctional Center, across from the Foley Square courthouse in lower Manhattan.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan obtained an indictment involving a conspiracy that ran for two decades and was concealed by the use of false names and bank accounts and fraudulent income tax returns.
Among the programs defrauded were federal and state tuition assistance grants; a Small Business Administration program to aid small, minority-owned companies; the Section 8 rental subsidy program; and an insurance benefit program run by the Social Security Administration.
http://www.lohud.com/article/20090818/NEWS03/908180361/-1/SPORTS
Comments:
The charges are all lies. these are all ehrliche yidden. they were indicted before the even looked at the facts. they couldn't believe families were so large.
Comment Credit ---This article posted by 
: August 18, 2009 11:33 AM
: August 18, 2009 11:33 AM
Great there goes another chillul hashem.
when are people going to understand???
when are people going to understand???
Comment Credit ---This article posted by : August 18, 2009 2:21 PM
: August 18, 2009 2:21 PM
If Friesel had stayed and faced trial in the late 1990s, he would have served 2 or 3 years in prison. But he ran. Now he could easily serve 10.
Comment Credit ---This article posted by : August 18, 2009 7:35 PM
: August 18, 2009 7:35 PM
This wasn't about families, but about massive Pell grant fraud to students that didn't even know they applied. The congressional testimony was only about Yiddin. What a cchillul Hashem!
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Comment Credit ---This article posted by : August 19, 2009 7:10 PM
: August 19, 2009 7:10 PM
