Auschwitz Torah scrolls seller - sentenced to 4 years

A Sofer who sold and raised funds for Sifrei Torah which supposedly survived the Nazi concentration camps, was sentenced to 4 years in prison for fraud.

The Sofer from Baltimore accumulated commercial fortunes from ancient holy books which supposedly survived the Holocaust, and was sentenced to four years in prison and a substantial fine.

Rabbi Menachem Julius, bookstore owner and scribe, formed an association called "Save the Sefer Torah" and raised funds for ancient Torah scrolls which supposedly survived the Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen death camps.

Julius called himself the 'Jewish Indiana Jones' and said that he wandered around towns in Poland during his attempts to rescue the Torah scrolls. He also told he was beaten and imprisoned many times. But an inquiry by the police revealed that Julius never visited Europe.

Julius recruited by the organization millions of dollars when the money was transferred to an account of his bookstore. The claim alleges that he had taken from the bookstore account checks for 344,000 dollars, and two hundred thousand dollars for personal expenses.

Julius made a plea bargain and admitted that he lied. The Federal Court ruled that he must return one and a half million dollars to people had swindled including synagogues and communities who purchased Torah scrolls from him.

His lawyer Benjamin Perman, said in court that this is the most difficult case he had represented for the last 34 years in which he has been practicing law, and asked the judges to consider the fact that his client is a respected person in the community with nine children and a sick wife.

Julius said that he had sinned to the Creator and the state and will carry the offense all his life.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!