US prosecutors charged 17 people on Tuesday with stealing more than $42 million from a nonprofit group that distributes German government money to Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
Prosecutors said the 17 people tricked the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany into making about 5,500 payouts based on false claims.
The nonprofit group, founded in 1951 in New York, said two of its funds were targeted by the scheme. One fund makes a single $3,600 payment to Jewish victims of the Nazis, and the other makes monthly payments of $411.
The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany said six of its employees were involved in the scam. The six are among the 17 people charged.
"We are outraged that individuals would steal money intended for survivors of history's worst crime to enrich themselves," Julius Berman, the Claims Conference chairman, said in a statement.
The Claims Conference said it uncovered the fraud and contacted the FBI. Most of the defendants face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
(Source: Reuters)
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