Alert yeshiva managers in a Jerusalem neighborhood led to the
discovery of a professional con man posing as a donor who
tried to swindle several yeshivas.
Last week a number of yeshiva managers received visits from a
man who introduced himself as a agent for a wealthy
Venezuelan family who was in Israel to manage their business
affairs. He claimed that the father of the family had passed
away leaving a large contribution to a yeshiva in his will,
and the surviving relatives wanted to memorialize his name in
that particular neighborhood because they had plans to make
aliya.
The swindler added that he asked nothing in return, but
wanted to finish up the matter as quickly as possible because
the family was expected to arrive within days. After the
yeshiva cashed the check, it would have to give back some of
the money to cover the family lawyer's fees, he explained. He
also said since there were several yeshivas in the
neighborhood he wanted "a good dedication offer" from each of
the institutions, and the family would decide which yeshiva
would receive the donation.
He paid repeated visits throughout the day, making dedication
arrangements and placing numerous phone calls abroad in sight
of yeshiva officials, to build confidence and to bolster his
image. At the end of the day he returned to one of the
yeshivas, saying that the family had decided to give it the
money even though the family lawyer favored a different
yeshiva.
The con man then said the check could be picked up at the
attorney's office in Tel Aviv right away, but he started
making phone calls that gave the impression that the lawyer
was creating difficulties and wanted to receive his share in
cash. In order to finish off the matter quickly, the con man
— saying he had a large portion of the sum and could
not obtain the balance in cash at the moment —
suggested the yeshiva help him pay the attorney fees. In
exchange for the cash he offered a check from a company
supposedly under his ownership.
One of the yeshiva managers raised suspicions the man could
be a swindler. He called the other yeshiva managers in the
neighborhood to verify the story and discovered the man was
actually a shrewd con artist. There was no such family in
Venezuela and no such company in Israel.
The yeshiva was spared from the ruse at the last moment and
warns other yeshivas to take precautions against dubious
schemers.
